Don't We Belong Together?
by HarryPotterFan670
Summary: JUST COMPLETED!They’re both popular. They’re both goodlooking. They’re both smart and rich. Most people would think they're perfect for each other. Boy agrees, Girl thinks much different...for now. This is the life of James Potter and Lily Evans. R and R
1. Two Opposite Lives

**Ahh…who loves Half-Blood Prince? I DO! **

**so, like HBP…JK owns the characters, not me**

**Don't We Belong Together?**

**They're both popular. They're both good-looking. They're both smart and rich. So why does girl hate boy? Don't they belong together? This is the life of James Potter and Lily Evans. R and R please!**

Chapter 1—Two Opposite Lives

Lily Evans sighed as she sat on her favorite squishy couch in the sunroom of her overly large home. She heard a light knock and sat up slowly, to see the butler at the door.

"Can I get you anything, Miss Lily?" He asked. Lily made a face. Sometimes she wished she had a normal life, but she should be used to it after 16 years.

"No thanks. Well actually, have you seen my cell phone?" Lily was of course a muggle-born that attended Hogwarts, so her parents still believed in her using muggle materials.

"I saw it last on the table by the pool, miss." He replied. Lily nodded a thank you and set off to the beautiful outside of her home. There was a stone pathway leading to the large, sparkly blue pool. Lily spotted her silver flip phone on the table and dialed her best friend,

Katie's, number. Katie was a half-blood witch. Her father was a wizard that attended Hogwarts as a teenager but her mother was muggle, so they still used muggle items in their home. Lily spoke as soon as Katie answered.

"Do you want to go into London? Diagon Alley maybe?" She asked.

"Oh sure! I miss everyone from school." Katie answered. Lily laughed, knowing Katie

was thinking of someone in particular.

"Everyone? I'm thinking you're missing _someone_. Preferably Sirius." Lily accused Katie, who laughed also.

"Maybe…" Katie said slowly.

"Okay," Lily was still laughing slightly, "I'll have the limo swing by in 20 minutes." She hung up and went to her bright, sunny room to brush her beautiful, perfectly straight reddish-brown hair, and apply make-up. She changed into her favorite jeans, tight ones that flared at the bottom. She wanted to look nice in case she ran into people from school.

Katie came running out of her huge house, her also perfectly straight hair, though blonde, flying behind her. She was wearing a very short tan, black, and red plaid skirt, with a matching shirt. Katie played Chaser on the Gryffindor quidditch team, so she had thin, toned legs. She and Lily were very pretty, causing lots of attention from the guys.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, roamed the cobble stone streets of Diagon Alley. They were each licking ice cream from the shop and just fooling around laughing. They stopped into the Quidditch shop and James instantly fell in love with the new broom, Shooting Star 07. After staring at it for too long and reading all about it, he couldn't use self control and instantly spent about 30 Galleons on it. Just as they were walking out, Sirius froze.

"What?" James and Remus both asked him. They followed his gaze and saw Katie Connors, one of the Hogwarts hotties (as the guys secretly called them), wearing a short skirt and laughing sweetly with her best friend, Lily Evans. Remus heard them both suck in their breath. James was incredibly crazy for Lily but she hated him. As for Sirius and Katie, he could tell they both adored each other, but did nothing about it.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily and Katie both felt eyes on their backs and turned around to see James Potter and Sirius Black staring at them. Lily groaned loudly but Katie giggled happily. She took Lily's hand and had to use great effort to drag her over to the guys.

"Hey!" She smiled at Sirius.

"Hey." He grinned back.

"Lily! Hi!" James said eagerly. Lily just looked at him until Katie nudged her, rather hard too.

"Hi." She said rudely.

"Er, so what brings you two here?" Remus interrupted the cold silence all around Lily.

"We got bored." Katie simply answered. She noticed James staring at Lily's green eyes, while Lily tapped her foot.

"Bored? In the houses you live in? There's enough to do in a whole lifetime!" Remus explained. Lily finally spoke.

"Well, the pool gets boring if you go in everyday and that's like, the only fun thing to do at the house."

"Well, since Katie plays quidditch, we have a mini quidditch field in my back yard, so you both could come over sometime! Sirius moved in with my family and Remus is there a lot, so you can hang out with all of us." James said hopefully.

"How do you have a quidditch field?" Katie asked.

"It's an all-wizard community, so we're allowed." James answered.

"Well, Katie can go. I don't like playing Quidditch. And _stop _staring at me, Potter!" Lily stated. James turned to face Sirius.

"So, do you want to walk around together?" Sirius asked.

"Sure!" Katie said, she loved hanging out with Sirius and the guys, but remembered Lily didn't, for she kicked Katie's foot. Katie shrugged helplessly and Lily groaned and rolled her eyes. They set off for Florish and Blotts and Lily escaped away to find a book. Her once cheerful mood was disappearing since she saw Potter. He asked her out about 201 times last year (Lily counted) and still kept asking. _What does he see in me?_ Lily wondered to herself. _I've been such a jerk to him, and he still 'likes' me. _It was true, Lily snapped at him, called him names, shouted, hit, and done everything possible to get him away during the last 6 years at Hogwarts. Of course, he still didn't give up. _He's got perseverance, yet uses it annoyingly. He doesn't know when to stop, or---_

"Lily?" Katie came up behind her, disrupting her thoughts about Potter. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, why?" Lily responded.

"You've been frowning at that shelf for 10 minutes." Katie told her, which made Lily feel stupid. She just walked away and began looking at the books, but soon saw a shadow over her.

"Hey." A deep, male voice said.

"Ugh! Potter! Leave me ALONE!" She said, incredibly loudly, turning around. However, the guy behind her, looking rather amused now, was not Potter. It was someone she'd never met before, but he was incredibly good looking, with long dark hair falling into his eyes, similar to Sirius's, but in a way, different. He was tall and muscular. Lily felt her heart race.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just this guy, and—." She started but he held up his hand and chuckled slightly.

"Don't worry, it's fine." He held out his hand. "I'm Jason."

She shook his hand. "I'm Lily." She smiled at him. "Do you go to Hogwarts?"

"I will this year, my parents had actually home-schooled me, until the Ministry banned it. I'll be in 7th year, I'm turned eighteen in September." He answered.

"I'm a seventh year there too. Though I won't be eighteen for a while." She told him.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James watched around the corner of a shelf as he saw Lily meet this new guy. She was smiling and giggling a lot. His heart sank to his knees. He knew Lily wasn't going to go out with him anytime soon, but her going out with someone else would kill him. _They just met, she's just being nice, _He tried to unsuccessfully calm himself.

"What's up, Prongs?" Sirius came up behind him. When he got no answer, he followed James's gaze to Lily laughing with some unknown guy. "Aw, Prongs, you knew this could happen." Sirius said.

James slowly nodded and in a depressing voice answered, "Yeah. Yeah, I knew. Let's go."

They lied to Katie that the three guys had to be back home at a certain time, so they could get James away before breaking point. Even though Lily wasn't his girlfriend, or even _friend _for that matter, it still hurt him, seeing the one he loved, seem to love someone else.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**hey! Hope you liked it! Please review, I'll put up chapter 2 after some reviews!**

**Thanks!**

**Much love,**

**HPFan670**


	2. Hogwarts Express

**Thanks for all reviews! **

**I don't own the characters (**

Chapter 2—Hogwarts Express

James was tearing apart his house looking for his Invisibility cloak. There was **no** way possible he was going back to Hogwarts without it. He completely messed up his closet in his bedroom from looking and his clothes all over the place, and his bed unmade. He ran down one of the staircases in the entryway. There were two, both following the curvy wall and met at balcony at the top.

As he jogged down the steps he remembered that once when they were twelve (yes, _twelve,_ when most are maturing), he and Sirius thought it would be fun to jump over the balcony and land on pillows. Needless to say, it was a disaster. James actually landed on his feet on a pillow, but the pillow slipped on the shiny floor and he ended up breaking his arm. Sirius completely missed the pillows and fell flat on his face, the air knocked out of him, and a bloody, broken nose. The Potter's had to take both of them to St. Mungo's and forbid them to do it ever again.

He continued his search through the sitting room, throwing pillows all over the place. He felt bad, because the house elf would have to clean it all up, but James had no time to clean. They were leaving for Hogwarts the following morning and half of his possessions were still missing.

"Whatcha' doin', Prongs?" Sirius came down the stairs.

"Looking for my cloak." He answered, not looking up from digging in the couch.

"Oh, why didn't you tell me? It's on my bed." Sirius told him.

James let out a long breath and made a sound of annoyance. He stomped up the stairs and down the long, bright hallway to Sirius's room. He located the cloak, continued stomping to his room, and threw the cloak into his trunk. Sirius was leaning on James's door frame, looking highly amused.

"Oh, shut up, Padfoot. Like you never get in a bad mood." James told him grumpily. "Why aren't you packing?"

"It takes like, two seconds for me." Sirius replied. James raised his eyebrows.

"Your room is like a hurricane. How can you find your school stuff?" James accused.

"Hey," Sirius raised his arms in surrender. "It's cleaner than yours."

James made that groaning sound of annoyance again, but much stronger, and Sirius began to run. James grinned and ran after him. Sirius slid down the railing, falling off where it curved but quickly got up and continued running. James was just behind him. Sirius led him all the way outside, halting when he reached the side of the pool. Unfortunately, James did not notice this and ran right into Sirius, causing them both to fall in the pool. They got above water in time to see Remus leaning against the side of the house, eyebrows raised. They quickly got out of the water, their clothes soaking the stone patio.

"Aren't we _seventeen_?" Remus asked.

"Prongs was getting grumpy, and it's like, as bad as me when I'm grumpy, so I annoyed him to chasing point, which cheered him up." Sirius grinned. Remus rolled his eyes but smiled. He was staying overnight to catch the train with them in the morning. After James and Sirius changed into dry clothes, they helped Remus carry his trunk inside and in the guest room. As they passed James's room, Remus noticed the mess and a slightly aggravated house elf beginning to clean it up.

"What happened in there?" Remus asked, shocked.

"I was looked for my cloak, but Padfoot had it and never told me." James said, looking at Sirius who shrugged innocently.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily carefully placed her neatly folded robe on the top of the trunk. She looked around her room and it seemed as though she packed everything needed for school. She slid the trunk closed and locked it. The housekeeper had folded all her clothes, making it easier to pack everything. Lily opened the fancy French doors in her room, leading to a balcony. It felt cool and peaceful outside. One of Lily's favorite things to do was sit outside on her balcony and watch the sun set. There was a slight breeze and her hair blew behind her. She watched the beautiful pink, yellow and red sunset, smiling. She loved evenings like this. Just as she stepped back inside, she found her sister in her door frame.

"What do _you _want?" Lily asked. She wished she got along with her sister, but that would never happen.

"Mother's been calling you for ages, Freak." Petunia sneered.

"Oh, stop calling me that. You're just jealous." Lily crossed her arms.

"Jealous of what?" Petunia made a face.

"That my life is better than yours." Lily told her.

"It is?"

"Yeah, you're jealous that I'm prettier than you, and smarter than you, I have friends, and even a best friend, lots of guys want to be my boyfriend, and I will actually have a career!" Lily snapped. A few years ago, she let Petunia say all the mean stuff, but Lily just couldn't stand it. She isn't naturally mean, she just has a unkind spot for Petunia and James Potter.

"Well at least I'm not a freak! I don't go around playing with a stick of wood making things fly!" Petunia raised her voice.

"Whatever, you don't know the half of what magic is, so if you'll so kindly excuse me, Mother was calling me." Lily said coolly and making extra care to hit Petunia's shoulder on the way out, so Petunia smacked her (hard) on the back.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Sirius! Let's go!" James shouted from the bottom of the stair case.

"Wait!" Sirius cried. James shook his head, yeah right 'two seconds to get ready'.

5 minutes later, Sirius was still upstairs. "Sirius! We're going to miss the train!" James called.

"WAIT! I CAN'T FIND MY FAVORITE BOXORS!" Sirius yelled. James and Remus instantly started laughing until Sirius came down the stairs, boxors in hand and tossing them in his trunk.

"Ready." He nodded, breathless from running around upstairs. James let out an exhausted breath and followed his parents out to the rented Ministry car. James's dad had to pay 10 Galleons to borrow it and had to return it without a scratch. The ride to Kings Cross Station was short and after good-byes, the three guys stepped through the barrier and came to face the scarlet Hogwarts Express. Suddenly remembering, James dug his Head Boy badge out of his pocket. It wasn't too much of a deal to him, but it would be nice to have his own room and get to stay out after hours without getting detentions if caught. They quickly boarded and Sirius and Remus went to find a compartment while James went to the Prefect's compartment. He walked into the compartment only to face a too-familiar red-head.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily said a quick good-bye to her parents. She didn't talk to them much ever since she went to Hogwarts. They just drifted apart.

"Lily!" Lily turned and saw Katie running towards her. She gave her a little hug and walked through the barrier with her.

"Katie, I have to go to the Prefect's compartment for a while, since I'm Head Girl. I promise to meet you for lunch." Lily told her and set off to the compartment. She was the first one there, so she looked out the window at all the wizard parents waving good-bye to their children. She wished her parents were magical. It just wasn't fair. She could never live in a house always full of magic things. She always felt like she didn't belong in her family. Deep down in her heart, she knew Petunia was right, she was a freak and didn't fit in.

Lily heard the compartment door slide open and she looked up. None other than James Potter, wearing a Head Boy badge, entered.

"Oh, you've _got _to be kidding me!" Lily exclaimed.

James grinned, "Nope."

"Well there goes _my _great seventh year." Lily said grumpily.

"Aw, come on, Lily, it won't be that bad sharing a common room." He sat down next to her and put his arm around her. Lily glared at him. "What?" He asked.

"Potter. Get your arm. Off my shoulder." She broke up her words. He quickly removed his arm and stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets.

After a meeting with the new Prefects, instructing them what to do, James and Lily set off to find their friends. Much to Lily's dismay, she found them sitting together. Katie was sitting next to Sirius, laughing at something he said. Remus was having a lively conversation with another one of Lily and Katie's friends, Ashley. Lily sat next to Katie, and after receiving Lily's glare, James sat next to Remus.

"Sorry, Lily, but Sirius wanted me to sit with him. We're friends, just cause you hate Potter, doesn't mean you have to hate Sirius and Remus. They're nice guys, and James is too, but well, I _can _see how he gets on your nerves but…" Katie tried, but Lily held up her hand.

"No, Katie, it's fine. Being friends with Sirius and Remus is fine, I'm just so sick of Potter asking me out. He doesn't realize it's so annoying!" Lily replied. Katie gave a sad smile and a half-hug to Lily, before turning to talk to Sirius.

"So, Lily, how was the rest of your summer?" Remus asked her.

"Oh, it was fine. What did you think of the History of Magic essay assignment?" Lily started talking to Remus. It turned out, he was very interesting and a nice guy. Lily could tolerate him very well. She could tell Katie would be hanging out with Sirius a lot this year, so she was stuck hanging around with them if she wanted to be with Katie. Remus was someone she could actually have an intelligent conversation with.

The train ride wasn't that bad. James pretty much got the hint that Lily didn't want anything to do with him for the day, so he mostly talked to everyone else. They finally arrived at Hogwarts, all ready for the great feast to begin, Lily hoping this year wouldn't be awful.

**heyyy! hope you liked this…I know it wasn't too much of a chapter but it's only the beginning! I hope it wasn't too boring…it will get better! The chapters will get longer, I promise. I just needed to save the next part for the next chapter. Thanks for all reviews**

"**me"—**thanks, you were my first reviewer for this story!

**holyheartbreak—**thanks to you too…it meant a lot to me. hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

**crazililbabe---**thanks! I know it was short, but it was just the beginning, so the chapters will get longer! hope this chapter was s good to you.

**Lyny Angell—**hey! The rating will go up as I continue…it's just the beginning so…yeah. And thanks for everything else you said, that's really sweet! I'm glad you like my stories so much, I really don't think I'm that good, but it's fun to write. I know, I know, I promised a sequel to I'm Already There and I will work on it eventually! Hope you liked this chapter!

Much Love,

HPFan670


	3. Getting Used to the Marauders

**Sorry for my mistakes in earlier chapters…I totally forgot cell phones weren't around then. I guess I'm just used to everything today...sorry and thanks books4me for pointing it out.**

**by the way, does anyone know how to edit their bio on their page? I haven't been on the site in a long time until I started this story and everything was different! I don't know how to edit the part where you type everything! haha so if anyone could help me, that would be great!**

**Thanks for reviews...love you guys! **

**I don't own the characters, mmkay?**

Chapter 3—Getting Used to the Marauders

The sorting was finally completed, the feast eaten and Dumbledore's speech over. The mass of students got up to go to their warm and comfortable dorms.

"Lily!" She heard a voice and turned around. Jason was a few meters away, waving at her.

"I'll meet you at the common room." Katie smirked and Lily went over to Jason.

"Hey!" She smiled at him, though disappointed that the hat put him in Ravenclaw. "What do you think of Hogwarts so far?"

"I like it a lot. It's different. Oh, congratulations on becoming Head Girl! I didn't know what I huge honor it was!" He told her.

"Thanks. You better go with the Ravenclaws. I don't know where your common room is yet. I'll find out tonight. See you later." Lily waved and walked to the Gryffindor common room. She knew where the Heads one was but figured she would hang out with Katie before she went in it. She gave the password that McGonagall told her earlier and found Katie sitting with Sirius, James, Remus and Peter Pettigrew, a mousy little boy that seemed like friends with 'the Marauders'. Lily, not wanting to start an argument, sat with them. Sirius (who was sitting next to her) was draped lazily over the side of the couch, his head upside down, turning red from all the blood rushing to it and his hair all over the place. He started to fall, so he put his feet on Lily's legs to steady himself. Lily just rolled her eyes, after the train ride to Hogwarts, she'd gotten used to things Sirius did. Katie was sitting cross-legged on her favorite squashy chair, playing with her hair. James and Remus were engaged in a serious battle of Wizards Chess, and Peter was watching and cheering stupidly. Lily smiled, it seemed natural to be hanging with the Marauders, though she admitted it was still strange, but could tell they would be with them a lot. She groaned to herself.

As the clock in the common room chimed ten-oh-clock, Lily realized she and James needed to go to their dorm.

"Um, Potter? We have to find our dorm." She said.

"Oh yeah! I forgot we weren't staying here!" He stood up. Lily got up quickly too, knocking Sirius's legs off the couch and sending him flying, landing face-first on the floor.

"Ow." Came his muffled voice.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Lily apologized. She heard a light snort behind her and saw Katie fighting the temptation to laugh. Sirius rolled over onto his back, rubbing his nose, his dark hair sticking up in all directions.

"Geez, Lily. You're not very nice." He said, still rubbing his nose, but beginning to smile.

"Sorry." She started laughing and turned to face the portrait hole. "We better go before I hurt anyone else." She said to James, who grinned, not just because he found the whole thing amusing, but because Lily said something to him without yelling or swearing at him, or even hitting him.

"Good idea." He answered and they bid their friends good-night and left the Gryffindor common room.

"It's on the 5th floor, behind the portrait of the Hogwarts crest." Lily told James. James nodded and followed her to the portrait.

"Um, Lily? We don't know the password." James told her.

"Yeah, we do." She said, digging in the pocket of her jeans, which were under her robes. They never wore full uniforms the first night back. She pulled out a letter from Professor McGonagall. "Didn't you get one?" She asked him, and he shook his head. "Well, I suppose that makes sense. You'd probably lose it." She told him and James scowled.

"Just tell me how to get in the room." James got grumpy at Lily's sudden change of mood.

"Okay, listen carefully because I am not going to keep telling you this. Gosh, this is weird. Okay, you have to tap each part of the crest. Like the Gryffindor lion, Hufflepuff badger, get what I'm saying?" Without waiting for his answer, she continued. "Then, after tapping them, you say your name and then tap the H. Watch." Lily tapped each part of the crest, stated her name, tapped the H and a doorknob appeared. James looked impressed. "We can tell the door whoever we want it to allow in. If someone tries to get in that we didn't allow, the doorknob won't appear." Lily told him. She turned the knob and opened the door.

"Wow." Lily breathed, smiling. There was a large common room that slightly resembled the Gryffindor common room, just a little smaller. There was a marble fireplace with a warm, welcoming fire burning. The scarlet couches looked soft and comfortable. On the left side there were tall, floor-to-ceiling windows that showed a beautiful view of the lake. Tall bookshelves were against the walls, with some books already there. The carpet was soft and added a nice touch to the room. The lighting in the room was bright and gave off a feeling of home. On the wall with the windows there was a staircase that led to a small hallway, with a balcony at the top.

Lily and James climbed the staircase and went up to the balcony. There were two doors, the one on the right read _Mr. James Potter, _and the one of the left said _Miss Lily Evans. _They went into James's room first. There was a large bed in the middle with red blankets. There were big windows that had gold curtains drawn in front of them. A mahogany desk was in the corner and a matching bureau. Another door led to an amazing bathroom. It had a bath like the Prefect's, with tons of knobs doing different things and also a marble shower.

After touring James's room, they headed into Lily's. Hers was pretty much the opposite of James's. Her bed had gold covers and her red curtains covered the windows (which were on the opposite side that James's were). Lily's bathroom was just like James's with the marble bath and shower. Out of pure happiness, Lily ran, jumped and landed on her bed. James laughed.

"Do you do that often?" He asked, amused. She sat up, leaning on her soft pillows.

"No. I just finally feel at home. I never do." She explained.

"You don't feel at home in your own house?" James questioned. She shook her head.

"No, I don't get along with my sister, I don't talk to my parents much and it's just weird. I mean, I'm closer to my _butler _than my mum, because the butler actually talks to me, and takes care of what I need. I love my house and everything it's just not much of a home and--." She stopped all of a sudden. "Why am I telling _you _this?" She asked herself aloud. "Okay, good night, Potter. Just go." She said.

"But--." James tried.

"Potter! Classes. Early. Tomorrow. Leave!" She whined. James sighed and walked out of Lily's room, across the balcony and into his room. He thought they were actually going to become friends, but he supposedly guessed wrong. He quickly changed and got into bed, feeling annoyed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily woke up to sunlight streaming into her room. She felt great. She'd slept the best she'd ever slept before. After a steamy, comfortable shower, Lily put on her gray Hogwarts uniform and Gryffindor robes over them. After putting a drying spell on her perfectly straight hair, she emerged from her room and down the stairs. James was sitting on the couch, falling asleep.

"Late sleeper?" Lily said, rather loudly, making him jump.

"Uh—yeah." He replied, rubbing his eyes. "I hate getting up early." He added grumpily. Lily began walking toward the door to go to breakfast and James quickly jumped up and followed. _He's lucky that I'm in a good mood, _Lily thought. They walked into the Gryffindor common room to wait for their friends. Katie was lying on the couch, sleeping, while waiting for Sirius, and Remus was looking through a textbook. Sirius emerged from the boys' dormitory, looking sleepy.

"Looks like getting up early made us all wide awake!" Remus said sarcastically, and Lily smiled. Sirius squeezed Katie's shoulder to wake her up. Tired students were in the Great Hall, eating their breakfast. Everyone was so used to sleeping late over the summer that no one wanted to get up in the morning. Professor McGonagall was walking among the students handing out schedules. Lily was excited, she couldn't wait to get started with classes. She was taking all the essential classes for becoming an Auror. She dreamed of the day she could. Though, it turned out, The Marauders had that same dream, so they were in all of Lily's classes and break times. There would be just no getting away. Katie was taking Care of Magical Creatures also, because that was one of her favorite classes, so Lily would have to spend her free period after lunch alone.

After a delicious breakfast, the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws set off to the dungeons for Potions. That was always Lily's best class. She'd never gotten anything below an 'E'. It turned out, the professor wanted them to make Amortentia, an incredibly strong love potion.

"Lilyyyyyy." Katie whined, dragging out the end of her name. Katie's potion was turning blue, rather than the light pink it was already supposed to be.

"Try putting in another piece of root. It looks like you only put in 6 instead of 7. Then stir it 8 times. " Lily instructed her friend.

"How, Lily, how, do you know everything in this class?" Katie said, awestruck after her potion turned a light pink. Lily just smiled in response. She looked at her classmates, some had achieved other shades of pink, but none the perfect soft shade.

"Oh no!" Sirius cried. "Wait, stop!" His potion (which was bright purple) started bubbling higher and higher until it started to spill over onto the counter-top.

"Time's up!" Professor Slughorn said cheerfully. He vanished Sirius's mess quickly.

"I think a 'P', would be the appropriate grade, don't you, Mr. Black?" He said to Sirius, who nodded grumpily and plopped down onto his chair. Slughorn clapped cheerfully once he reached Lily's cauldron.

"Perfect! You've done it again, Miss Evans! Of course you'll be getting an 'O'." He wrote down her grade on the sheet. Katie smiled hopefully at him when he looked in her cauldron.

"Hmm, I think an 'A', would be about right." Katie groaned and turned to Lily.

"I never get an O in this class! It's not fair! Can't wait for Care of Magical Creatures class." She mumbled, scowling like Sirius.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**Sorry but I'm not updating until I get at least 16 reviews. If not a lot of people like it, why bother?**

**hey! I know this chapter really wasn't that good, so I hope it will get better as it goes on! Once again, it's just the beginning and I'm trying to introduce the personalities of some of the characters. Hope you still liked it! **

Thanks to **beyonce-85 **and **PinkandGreenWhiteRedBlack07 **for their lovely reviews.

**books4me—**haha yeah sorry, like I said at the top, I guess I'm just used to everything these days, I forget sometimes. Thanks for telling me. Hope you still like the story!

**Lyny Angell—**haha yeah it is annoying to write! Oh and I understand about how you don't always read K/K+...but thanks for still reading this! The rating's going to change anyway so I guess it doesn't matter too much. And thank you for saying I'm a good writer….it means a lot! haha I knew the word boxers didn't look write but my spell check was all messed up and I was too lazy to look it up. LoL… I know, I will try to start the sequel sometime soon…! oh and yes, I totally loved HBP, I wont say anything about it on here in case other people haven't read it, but it was so good! hope you still liked this chapter.

**potterchick1— **thanks! I promise it won't take forever for them to get together, because I don't like when it takes so long either! thanks again and hope this chapter was still good!

**Rebel Rose—**yeah, sorry. I just wanted to prove a point, but I guess I did too strongly…oh well. haha YES HBP was awesome!


	4. A Slight Change of Heart?

**I got over 16 reviews, so I'm going to update:) thank you!**

**sorry it took so long to be updated**

**JKR owns the characters, not me. I'm so used to it. **

Chapter 4—A Slight Change of Heart?

"Where have _you _been?" Lily asked James when he came into their common room. Her books were spread all over the table in front of the couch and she was writing an essay for Potions. His hair was even messier than its usual standards, his face red from the cold November weather outside, and he seemed out of breath

"Quidditch practice." He grinned happily. Lily rolled her eyes and got back to her essay. Sure, she went to the matches, but playing it every single night seemed pointless to her.

"Whatcha workin' on?" He asked, sitting lazily next to her.

"The Potions essay." She answered slowly. "And why don't you go do yours?" She didn't want him sitting there the whole time she worked on hers.

"Already finished it." He shrugged.

"The Transfiguration homework?" She threw out.

"Done."

"Charms?"

"Done."

"How?" She asked, incredulous to his homework ability. He couldn't have had the attention span to do it all at once.

"Simple. Something Sirius and I invented." He answered.

"Potter! Cheating is illegal, especially if you're _Head Boy!_" She scolded.

"Hey! Hey! I didn't say I cheated! I-It's just a quill that you tell it what to say and it writes it for you!" He told her. Lily smiled slightly, thinking he looked cute when he was defending himself.

"Oh, gosh." She whispered, catching herself thinking that.

"What?" James asked, hearing her.

"N-nothing." She answered distractedly and got back to her essay. James went upstairs to shower and change out of his Quidditch clothes.

Fifteen minutes later, while Lily was still working on her homework in the common room and James still upstairs, Sirius came charging into the room, scaring Lily half-to-death. Sirius laughed at her reaction, because she jumped so much and then shouted at the top of his lungs, "PRONGS!"

"_What _Sirius? You made me spill my ink all over me!" James came out of his room, looking startled and his shirt covered with ink.

"I'm bored." He told him. Lily just looked at him.

"You mean to tell me, that you came charging into here, _just _to tell Potter you're bored?" She asked while staring.

"Yep." Sirius answered her and she rolled her eyes again. Sirius turned back to James, who was standing on the balcony. "Let's do something." There was a slight pause. "I'm hungry. Or lets play Quidditch again."

"You have a short attention span, Sirius." Lily told him. James grinned and jogged down the steps.

"C'mon, we're going to the kitchens and then the field." James told Sirius. "Lily, do you want anything?"

"No, I'm going over to the Gryffindor common room to do something with Katie." Lily responded, packing up her school bag and following the guys out to the hallway.

"Lily! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" Katie came up to her, giving her a hug.

"I know, all this stupid work and then I don't even stay in the Gryffindor dorm anymore! It's our last year here. I feel like I'm missing out." Lily told her.

"I have an idea! You can stay in our dorm tonight. We have the normal about of beds, so you can stay in your old one. Please?" Katie begged.

"Sure! Now, give me your Potions essay and I'll look over it." Lily grinned at her best friend, who happily handed Lily her essay. "What did you get on the last one? I didn't get the time to read it."

"I got a P, but I read the wrong chapter in the book. You're so lucky Slughorn loves you. The lowest grade you've _ever _gotten in his class is an A, and that was my fault because I spilled the ingredient in your cauldron. If I ever did that to my own potion, I would get a D." Katie complained.

"I know, I don't know why he's like that. James and Remus get—," Lily stopped when she noticed Katie smirking at her. "What?"

"James? Are you on first name basis now?" She grinned.

"No! Well, yes! But it's just because were living together and hearing Evans and Potter all the time gets annoying." Lily tried.

"No Lily, you, like every other girl in this school, fell for the charm of James Potter." Katie announced.

"No I didn't! We're just friends! Can't I be friends with a guy without liking him?" Lily was getting frustrated.

"Tell me, how many times has James asked you out this year?" Katie asked.

"None. He's different. He doesn't pull as many pranks or ask me out fifty times a week." Lily told her friend.

"Okay, just tell me when the wedding is." Katie joked, resulting in Lily throwing a stray Gobstone at her.

"Here, I'm not doing your essay anymore." Lily shoved the essay back at Katie.

"What? Lilyyyyyyy." Katie started her infamous whine. Lily rolled her eyes and took back the essay, crossing out the incorrect sentences.

"Let's go for a walk. I'm bored." Katie said walked out of the portrait, not waiting for Lily's response.

"Oh! Why didn't you tell me they were playing Quidditch? Let's join them!" Katie spotted James and Sirius playing once the girls 'somehow' reached the pitch. Katie had been leading Lily there.

"Er, no, you can join them. I prefer to watch." Lily didn't want to play.

"No! Lily you're playing with us!" Katie insisted.

"B-but I don't have a broom. So I can't play." Lily tried.

"Oh, no problem, you can use a school broom." Katie told her, dragging Lily roughly across the pitch to the locker room, with Lily whining and groaning all the way. Katie handed her the school broom and dragged her yet again back to the pitch.

"Lily, come on! Just play!" Katie shouted from the air.

"B-but I-I," She stuttered.

"Is little Lilykins scared?" Sirius joked. Once he got no reply, he became serious. "Are you really scared, Lily?"

"Well--,"

"Are you?"

"Yes! I'm scared, okay? I've never flown anything before! I don't even know how to get up!" She cried. At one time all three of them started laughing. James flew down and landed next to Lily, who was crossing her arms and looking stubbornly at the broom.

"Lily, just sit on the broom and hold on with both hands." James's voice sounded still amused as he watched Lily nervously climb on it. She relaxed a little and looked at him, pissed off.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" She asked him, pursing her lips.

"Yeah, pretty much." He answered.

"Well, help me then, yeah?" She snapped. James grinned, flew down and got behind her and grabbed her hands. She felt a shiver at his touch and closed her eyes out of pure anger at herself.

"Lily, it might help if you open your eyes." James told her.

"Oh, sorry." She blushed.

"Put your hands like this and just kick off with your feet, like this." James kicked off and the broom went up. Lily squealed, half-scared, half-delighted at the feel of being in the air. Since they were only six feet up in the air, James jumped off the broom, trying to land on his feet to show off, but he got off-balance from the hurt of landing on hard ground (a/n—you know when you jump and land on a hard surface and it kills your feet/ankles with this painful feeling thing…that's what I'm trying to say. haha) and fell flat on his arse. Sirius roared with laughter at the sight of it, almost falling off his own broom from laughing too hard. Katie started laughing too, just because it was so pathetic how much he wanted to show off for Lily. James quickly got up, slightly embarrassed, and flew back up to his friends.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily and Katie emerged from the Gryffindor dorm early in the morning, because they couldn't sleep, still wearing their pajamas, which consisted of tank tops and flannel pants. James, Sirius, and Peter were asleep on the couches and chairs. They noticed Sirius had a large cut across his arm and James's cheek was bleeding.

"What happened to them?" Katie whispered. Lily bit her lip. She knew. Over the years, she noticed Remus disappearing once a month, and came back looking tired, with cuts and bruises all over. He always made up excuses, but Lily knew they weren't true. During third year, she figured out that he was a werewolf but never told anyone. If he wanted it a secret, she would keep it one too. Though she couldn't figure out why James and Sirius were cut up and Peter looking extra exhausted, even they knew better than to run around with a werewolf.

"We should let them sleep. They look really tired." Lily told Katie, who smirked.

"Is this really Lily Evans? The girl who, up till this year, hated the Marauders with a passion, and now she's letting them sleep, when she herself could be sitting on the couch?" Katie whispered, pretending to be shocked.

"Oh shut up." Lily snapped and headed back up with stairs until a noise behind them startled them. Sirius rolled off the couch in his sleep and woke with a start.

"Prongs, Prongs." With his eyes still closed, he shook James until he woke up.

"What?" James snapped. ("Oh, look who's grumpy in the mornings." Katie added. She and Lily were hiding in the doorway of the girl's dorm.)

"We've got to get to our dorm so we can heal our cuts." Sirius told him sleepily.

"Why, where are we?" James's eyes were still closed.

"Erm, I guess the common room." Sirius seemed to not have focused his eyes either. "I just know that what I slept on is smaller than my bed 'cause I fell off. Wormtail, wake up!" Sirius snapped at Peter. ("Well look who elseseems grumpy in the mornings." Lily smirked at Katie, who rolled her eyes.)

"When did we get back last night?" Peter asked.

"I think it was around 3." James spoke up, his voice muffled from the pillow covering it.

"My back hurts." Sirius groaned as he got up.

"Your arm is bleeding." James told him.

"Well so is your face!" Sirius threw at him. Katie started laughing and had to shove her fist in her mouth to stop. She and Lily quickly jumped back from the door to not to be seen by the guys. They knew they probably didn't want them to overhear. After the guys went in their dorm, the portrait opened and Remus stumbled through, looking tired and bloody. Katie gasped with horror. Lily felt a huge stab of pity for him. She half wished she didn't know this, because she felt so sorry for him.

**Hey! I know, once again it wasn't a very good chapter, but I promise it will get better once James and Lily get together! I hope you thought it was better than I did!**

**Lots of Love,**

**HPFan670**

**Lyny Angell—**thanks! haha yeah ever since I read about Slughorn, I pretty much imagined him like that. I cried too reading HBP! I'm also sad that they broke up! They're too perfect for each other! (and even Ron approves! haha) Anyways, thanks again and sorry it took so long to be updated!

**Nyte Shade214—**thanks! your stories are good too, I reviewed one of them…I like them so I hope you keep going too! hope you liked the chapter.

**books4me—**thanks for everything you said, that meant a lot. haha I love James and Sirius with their 'pathetic-ness'. Once again, thanks, cause you said lots of nice things! Hope this chapter was good enough for you!

**beyonce-85---**haha thanks…sorry it took long! No cookies! lol

_Also thanks to **Mandi M., potterchick1, and Jen-bob-ohio **for reviewing!_

**by the way, has anyone heard the song Just the Girl, by The Click Five? Well, doesn't it remind you of Lily and James? How Lily hated James but he still loved her, etc…haha okay bye**


	5. Hogsmeade Date

**by the way, has anyone heard the song Just the Girl, by The Click Five? Well, doesn't it remind you of Lily and James? How Lily hated James but he still loved her, etc…haha okay bye**

**thanks for reviews! love you!**

Chapter 5—Hogsmeade Date

"Lily Lily Lily!" Katie came rushing to her, almost knocking her over. Lily was taking a walk around the halls since she was bored and it was a free period, but she already finished her work.

"Gosh, what Katie?" Lily asked, though she had an idea of what could possibly make Katie this excited.

"Together. Me. Sirius. Happy!" Katie attempted, but Lily shook her head.

"No, sorry Katie baby, didn't get that." Lily told her, using one of Katie's stupid/funny nicknames.

"Sirius and I got together!" Katie jumped up and down.

"Okay, that made sense, next time----What?" Lily finally understood the sentence.

"Sirius and I are going out!" Katie exclaimed again. Lily somewhat shrieked and hugged her best friend.

"Oh, I'm so happy for you!" Lily grinned. She knew how much this meant to Katie.

"Thanks. We're going to Hogsmeade on Saturday." Katie finally calmed down.

"I forgot it was a Hogsmeade weekend. Now I don't get to hang out with you!" Lily said, but still had a smile on her face.

"Yes, you do." Katie told her, nodding.

"Erm, no I don't. _You're _going with Sirius. I'm not tagging along with you. Especially since you're probably going to be snogging the whole time." Lily pointed out and Katie blushed.

"Lils, you may be Head Girl and all, but sometimes you are really stupid!" Katie told her.

"Excuse me?" Lily put her hands on her hips.

"Yes, I just called you stupid. Anyways, you're double dating with us, Oh Smart One." Katie announced.

"Double dating? I don't have a boyfriend, or anyone I want to bring." Lily told her, though her mind wandered slightly to James.

"Well, James is coming." Katie stated.

"So you're setting me up with him?" Lily accused.

"Lily, c'mon! I _know _you fancy him!" Katie pleaded.

"No, I don't! I_ suppose_ he's my friend. Nothing more!" Lily told her.

"I'm you're best friend! I see the way you act around him! Whatever, Lily, but please come on Saturday! James will be so heart-broken if you don't!" Katie pleaded yet again.

"James? Lily you're going out with him?" Jason suddenly appeared.

"Oh, hello Jason. Haven't seen you in a while, have I?" Lily said. She really didn't like him anymore. He thought he was the greatest.

"No, you haven't. So what's this about you and Potter? You've sunk this low?" Jason said, raising his eyebrows. Katie made a disgusted sound but turned it into a cough when he spun around to look at her.

"First of all, I haven't, nor will I ever have, 'sunk this low'. Second of all, that's not low, and third of all, you seem like such a big jerk since you came here." Lily finally told him. He seemed taken aback. "I tried to be nice to you, I figured you seemed nice, but I guess I wasn't cool enough for you." She continued.

"Erm, Lily? Hate to tell you, but in case you haven't noticed, you're pretty much the most popular girl here." Jason retorted.

"I don't care about popularity. I care about losing someone I thought was a friend. I better go, can't be late for class, since, you know, I'm Head Girl and all." Lily told him and walked away, with Katie following her.

"Oh, and Katie? I'll go to Hogsmeade." She told her friend.

"Yes! I love you, Lils!" Katie gave Lily a huge hug, while they were still walking, and they both started to laugh.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_I'm beginning to think this was a mistake! _Lily thought. She was tearing through all her clothes, and she couldn't seem to find what she wanted. Still in her pajamas, she left the Heads dorm, getting odd stares from students, and into the Gryffindor dorm. When she entered, Sirius started laughing at her.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"Forget to get dressed?" He smirked.

"No, I don't know what to wear. I need Katie." She squinted her eyes at him and went up to the girl's dorm.

"Katie—." She started.

"I'm coming." Katie raised up her two hands, knowing Lily needed to know what to wear. Back in Lily's room, Katie sorted through all her clothes.

"Wear these." Katie shoved Lily a pair of tight jeans, that flared slightly at the bottom. Lily exchanged them with her pajama bottoms.

"This matches your eyes." Katie tossed Lily a green polo shirt, and Lily put it on.

"Wear these shoes. They're perfect for your outfit." Katie took out one of Lily's many pairs of shoes. They were her favorite green Converses, which, like the shirt, matched her eyes perfectly.

"Lily you look awesome! The shirt and shoes bring out your eyes so much. They're so pretty." Katie told her.

"Thanks, Kate. You're the best." Lily loved calling her Kate. It sounded cute.

"Do I look alright?" Katie looked worried. "I want Sirius to like me."

"Katie he already does! And yes, you look great!" Lily told her. Katie was wearing a short denim skirt and a blue t-shirt, that also like Lily's shirt, matched her eyes. It was a simple outfit, but it looked pretty on her.

"We better go meet the guys. I told them we would meet at the Entrance Hall." Katie announced.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James and Sirius were standing by the large doors, both with their hands in their pockets. Sirius was looking sexy in jeans and a black button up shirt, with the first 2 buttons undone and his hair messy and swept over his eye. Katie grinned at Lily, who just laughed. James actually wore the same type of thing, just a dark blue shirt. His hair was its usual mess. Lily ran a hard through her smooth hair, sighing quietly to herself. She was rather nervous.

"Hey." James said, also sounding nervous.

"Hey." Lily responded, and looked over at Sirius and Katie. Sirius grabbed Katie's hand and kissed it, then laced it with his. Katie smiled and looked back at Lily.

"Are you guys ready?" She asked. They both nodded.

"Let's eat at Three Broomsticks." Sirius said. Lily playfully rolled her eyes.

"Is that all you think about?" She asked him.

"What, broomsticks? No. I love playing Quidditch and everything but I don't think about it all the time. I mean, that's just weird, Lilykins, no one thinks about brooms all the time, unless you do, 'cause if you do it's okay! I just think it's strange but, I mean, you're not strange or anything---," Sirius babbled on until Lily cut him off.

"Sirius! I meant _food_." Lily cleared.

"Oh." Sirius said, scratching his head. Katie laughed. "Yeah, pretty much." He finally answered the correct question.

"You know, Padfoot? I'm beginning to think Lily is actually right. You're really odd." James told him.

"Oh, shut up." Sirius snapped.

"When did I say that?" Lily didn't remember saying it.

"Fourth year." James answered simply.

"I did? Oh yeah I remember! You came up to me and I told Sirius he was odd and then I said that you were a prat. But how do you still remember that?" Lily asked.

"I just do." James looked slightly embarrassed. He remembered almost everything Lily told him, but kept that a secret. Although he remembered Remus asked him if she remembered everything, because he was curious if James really loved Lily. James never answered the question, but Remus knew the answer.

They walked into Three Broomsticks and sat down at a booth by the window. Lily felt stupid, because she forgot her sweater, and with it being late November, it was rather cold. James saw her shiver and took off his jacket and handed it to her. She surprised him by taking it.

"Thanks." She smiled at him. James almost died. This was his paradise. He was sitting here with Lily, cozy in a booth at Three Broomsticks, with her wearing his favorite jacket.

James's jacket was warm and soft, and smelled incredibly good, like his cologne. It was definitely too big for Lily, but she snuggled into it. Katie nudged her under the table, and smiled at her.

Madam Rosmerta came up to them and looked surprised.

"Well, this is new. Lily Evans and James Potter together?" She said, smiling. Katie nodded.

"They're joining Sirius and me." She told her.

"Still shocking though, I seem to recall a day last year when Lily threw her butterbeer in Mr. Potter's face." Madam Rosmerta remembered.

"Yeah, I remember that too." James said, looking at Lily, without expression on his face. "Took forever to get the smell off of me." He added. Lily smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, but I had to! It was the only way to get rid of you!" She tried defending herself. Everyone laughed, including James.

"Okay, what would you all like to eat?" Madam Rosmerta took their orders and went to get the food. She came back shortly and dropped off their food.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

After Three Broomsticks, James, Sirius and Katie wanted to stop at the Quidditch shop, so Lily was dragged along. Katie came out, carrying a small package.

"Sirius bought me these!" She grinned madly. "They're chaser gloves! I've been dying to get them. They protect your hands when you catch the Quaffle."

"Aw, how sweet Sirius." Lily smiled at him, messing with him. He gave a sarcastic smile and walked off towards Honeydukes, with his arm around Katie's waist.

Lily (still wearing James's jacket) and James followed behind them and stepped in the warm shop. It smelled so good. Lily always loved the scent of Honeydukes.

"What were Remus and Peter doing today?" Lily tried to start a conversation.

"Remus is helping Peter with his transfiguration. You need patience to tutor Peter, so Remus is the only one that can do it." James replied.

They all left the shop, carrying bags of sweets, and walked down the cobblestone street.

"Is it alright if Sirius and I go in here? We want some hot chocolate." Katie said, stopping at Three Broomsticks again.

"Sure, we can find something to do." Lily did want to give Katie and Sirius some alone time.

"Here Lily, we can sit over there." James pointed to an empty bench. They sat and there was an awkward silence between them.

"You're much different this year, James." Lily stated quietly after a while. James shrugged.

"I guess so. Maybe I just grew up a little." He offered.

"Maybe." Lily didn't look at him, she just looked down the road at all the busy students, her hair blowing behind her from the chilly wind, only looking away when she got a glare from a girl she knew had a crush on James. James was studying her shoes.

"I like those shoes, Lily. They match your eyes." He told her. Lily smiled sweetly, looking at the shoes too.

"Thanks. That's what Katie said. My dad bought them for me, before he left." She told him.

"What do you mean?" James wondered.

"My dad walked out on us. I don't know why. My mum and I were at dinner with him, and they got in an argument and he said he wanted to use the loo, but he never came back. He took the car and everything, so we had to walk home." She confessed.

"I'm sorry. That's terrible." James finally looked into her eyes.

"It's alright. Really. It was two years ago, so I'm over it now, my mum's re-married anyway." Lily assured him. "Can I ask you something?" James smiled.

"You just did."

"Okay, something else."

"Go on."

"Why does Sirius live with you?" Lily wondered. James looked away again and bit his lip.

"He ran away." He finally answered.

"Why?" Lily asked softly.

"His family. Oh they were awful. They only believed in purebloods and being in Slytherin. They always hated Sirius, but even more when he got into Gryffindor. Sirius just couldn't take it. I've never seen him lose control like that before. He had all his stuff with him, and came to my house, shaking like mad." James told Lily.

"I never knew it was that bad for him." Lily stated. James just nodded.

"Yeah, but he found a way to be happy still." He spoke eventually and Lily smiled.

"It's amazing how someone can still do that, with a home like that." She said.

"Yes. It is." James smiled slightly at her, which she returned and they both gazed toward the castle, with the wind ruffling their hair.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**Hey! I don't know how much you liked this chapter, but this one was my favorite one to write so far! I hope you enjoyed it as much as me. I wrote it the quickest too! haha I also hope to get more reviews than I did for chapter 4! Thanks. **

**Rebel Rose—**yeah I guess you were right. I just wanted something catchy, that's all. I changed it a little, so I hope you think that's a bit better. Thanks for reviewing.

**strwbrrydaquiri---**lol thanks. I'm surprised though, I was never good at leaving cliff-hangers. haha thanks for your review!

**potterchick1---**thanks a lot! glad you enjoyed it! your reviews always make me happy. hope you liked this chapter!

**books4me---**thanks to you too. I'm glad people enjoy my stories. Hope you liked this chapter, whenever you get around to reading it! It means a lot for you to review.

**Lyny Angell **and **Lady Gwynevere**---thanks for reviewing! glad you liked it! hope you both liked this chapter as much as I did!

**Thanks for everything,  
HPFan670**


	6. Home for Christmas

**hey! thanks for all the reviews! you brighten up my day!**

**Chapter 6—Home For Christmas**

Before everyone knew it, it was already the end of December. The castle was decorated and excitement was in the air. Lily was in her room, packing her trunk to go home. As much as she wanted to stay at Hogwarts, she would hurt her mother's feelings if she didn't go. There was a knock, and Lily figured it was James, but Katie stepped through and shut the door.

"Why are you shutting the door?" Lily asked, sitting back on her heels because she was kneeling next to her trunk.

"I don't want James to hear this." Katie responded.

"This must be great." Lily said sarcastically.

"Okay anyways. What did you get James for Christmas?" Katie asked. Lily bit her lip.

"I was supposed to?" Lily asked.

"I figured you wouldn't, but Sirius told me James got you something really nice." Katie told her. Lily groaned and leaned back on her trunk. Katie grinned and continued, "Which is _why, _I picked up something for you to give him." She handed Lily a package. Lily opened it, figuring she could re-wrap it.

"Broomstick Servicing Kit." Lily read the box. "Something to make his head even bigger?" She joked.

"He'll love it, Lils, don't worry. Now, hand over 4 Galleons and 5 Sickles." Katie smiled innocently. Lily rolled her eyes but dug through her bag for the money.

"Thanks for getting it. When should I give it to him?"

"Erm, whenever. It's James, he'll take anything from you anytime." Katie smiled and Lily did too.

"Guess so. Where do we bring our trunks when they're packed?" Lily wondered aloud.

"Entrance Hall. I've got to bring mine too, so meet me at the Gryffindor common room." Katie said, walking out. Once Lily put James's gift in her trunk, and struggled to shut it, she put a levitating charm on it to make it float, and headed to the Gryffindor dorm to meet Katie. After carrying their trunks to the Entrance Hall, they met the guys at dinner. Sirius was filling his plate with everything possible, as if he wouldn't eat for months.

"Padfoot? We _do _feed you at my house." James told him.

"Well yeah, but tomorrow I don't get to eat a good lunch, so I must eat twice as much." Sirius said, with his mouth full of food. Katie shuddered and looked away. James continued.

"You buy almost everything on the trolley when it comes." He pointed out. Sirius just shrugged because his mouth was almost too full to utter any sound.

"When are you guys leaving tomorrow?" Peter asked.

"One. Aren't you going home?" Lily asked.

"No, I don't feel like going home." He explained.

"Remus, what are you doing for the holidays?" Lily asked politely.

"Going home, but I'll probably spend most of the time at James's place." He informed her.

"Lily, are you staying home all holiday?" James asked.

"Well, I'll be at home, I'm not going France again, if that's what you mean. Why?" Lily replied, wondering why he was asking.

"Oh, just wondering if you're doing anything interesting, that's all." James told her, but didn't meet her eyes. Katie nudged Lily under the table, with a knowing smile on her face. Lily just stuck her tongue out at her.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Back at the common room, most people were just relaxing around, ready for the holidays. A warm fire lit up the room and The Marauders, Lily, and Katie were sitting in the couches and armchairs around it. James and Remus were playing wizards' chess once more. (It seemed to be their favorite game.) Sirius and Peter were engaged in a battle of Exploding Snap, in which Peter was of course losing terribly. Lily was curled up in a chair, reading _Hogwarts, A History _for the millionth time and Katie was writing to her parents, letting them know she was coming back tomorrow.

"Haven't you read that book enough, Lils?" Katie asked, as she wrote her letter.

"Well, I'm trying to read between the lines, learn something else that I didn't know." Lily explained, smiling at Katie, who rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'll stop." Lily told her, shutting the book. She rested her head on the palm of her hand and watched the guys play their games. After a while, she felt herself getting sleepy and dozing off. The common room was empty except for them.

"What time is it?" Katie was apparently tired too, as she said it with her eyes closed.

"Almost half one." (1:30) Remus replied, looking at his watch.

"I'm going to bed." Lily and Katie announced at the same time, both getting up, eyes hardly open. Katie ended up tripping on the stairs for walking with them closed.

"I'm okay." She said and eventually made it up to the dorm.

Lily collapsed onto her bed, after somehow managing to change into her pajamas. She must have fallen asleep in the common room before because she asked what time it was around 10:00 and then Remus just said it was half one. Before she could think anymore, she fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily awoke the next morning to see snow falling lightly outside. She smiled and buried herself deeper in the covers. It was only seven in the morning, so she didn't have to get up yet. Her bed was warm and soft and Lily loved watching the snow all warm and cozy. As she lay in bed, she heard a shuffling on the other side. A tiny house elf came in carrying a small try with hot cocoa, sherbet lemons and a note. The elf noticed she was awake.

"I'm so sorry to wake you miss!" She squeaked, placing the tray on Lily's night table.

"Oh no, it's fine you didn't." Lily told her and she walked out of her room. Wondering who it was from, Lily picked up the card and opened it.

_Happy Christmas, Lily, _it read. Lily recognized James's handwriting and smiled as she sipped the cocoa and sat up in bed, looking out at the beautiful snow falling.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James and Sirius bought tons of food from the trolley when it came by. They shared it with everyone in the compartment. It was still snowing outside and everyone going home seemed happy and bundled up in warm clothing. The train ride went by fast and before they knew it, students were meeting their parents in Kings Cross. Lily said good bye to her friends and looked for her parents, but only saw her limo driver instead. Sighing, she grabbed her trunk and met him.

"Hello, Miss Lily. How are you today?" He asked politely.

"Fine. Let me guess...my mum was too busy to take 20 minutes to pick up her daughter, right?" Lily answered.

"Ah, well she and your stepfather were invited to a Christmas party." The driver replied and lifted her trunk into the limo. Lily climbed into the car and watched the snow fall during the drive home.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James and Sirius arrived at the Potter's house. Mrs. Potter was magically hanging decorations in the foyer.

"Hello boys!" She said cheerfully as they walked in the door.

"Hey, Mum." James gave her a hug. "Are we doing the annual Potter Christmas party this year?"

"Of course, dear. I need you and Sirius to send all these with the owls." She handed James a pile of letters.

"But we have 3 owls." Sirius pointed it out. Mrs. Potter laughed.

"Which is why you wait until it comes back to deliver the next one. Also, I left some blank ones you can fill out if there's friends from school you want to invite." She told him.

"Oh. So where's Daisy, I'm hungry." Sirius asked (about food of course).

"She's already made you something to eat in the kitchen, dears." Sirius and James headed toward the kitchen and brought the food upstairs so they could eat while mailing the letters.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o (sorry I keep doing that but I'm run out of ideas for the chapter.)

The day before Christmas, Lily was sitting on a stool next to the counter island in the sunny kitchen, munching on her favorite cereal. Her house looked amazing with all the decorations. Her mum and stepdad hired professionals to do it. Lily was wearing her favorite jeans and a soft, long-sleeved shirt that hugged her body nicely, and she left her hair down. As she ate her cereal, the doorbell rang and the butler called, "Miss Evans! It's for you!" Considering, Petunia was out with her stupid boyfriend, Vernon, and her mum was Mrs. Evans, Lily assumed it was for her. She wiped her hands and walked into the large entryway of her home.

It was none other than James Potter standing there, glancing up at the tall ceiling.

"James?" She spoke. He snapped out of his reverie and grinned at her.

"Hey, Lily. Your house is amazing." He told her and she smiled back.

"Thanks."

"Oh, I brought your Christmas present." He handed her a small, neatly wrapped package. She tore the paper off and opened the box.

"Oh." She breathed, in awe. It was a sparkly silver bracelet, the kind you can put charms on and it had a heart dangling on it that read, _Lily_, in beautiful writing. "Thank you so much. It's so beautiful." She slipped it on and gave him a quick hug.

"I'm glad you like it."

"Let me go get yours." Lily jogged up her stairs and down the hall to her room. She grabbed James's present and brought it back to him. He opened it up and grinned.

"Thanks, Lily! This is great. My broom needs some repair!" He told her.

"You're welcome." She smiled at him. He glanced at his watch.

"I better go. I promised my mum I would help the elf with cleaning. It's too much for our house elf now to clean the whole house, but we can't let her go. My mum loves her too much." James explained.

"Okay. Thanks so much for coming, and for the present." She walked him to the door and opened it for him.

"Oh, here." He slipped a card in her hand and walked out into the cold outside. After he was gone, Lily opened it.

_Dear Miss Lily Evans,_

_You have been cordially invited to an elegant party at the Potter Manor._

_Christmas Day, beginning at 7 p.m._

_We hope you can attend._

Lily smiled. Of course she would go! She would have to wear a dress she already had though, since it was such short notice. Out of excitement, she ran up to her room to look for a dress. In the back of her closet, she found a dress that was supposed to be for her mum's friend's wedding but it got called off. It was a mint green dress that fell off her shoulders and fit her top-half perfectly. It came out slightly at the waist-down, and was the perfect size for her. It made her look sexy and beautiful.

A couple of hours before the party, Katie came over to get ready with Lily. She was carrying a light pink dress and lots of make up and jewelry. Katie's dress was a tube-top dress that fit her body's small, thin form until about knee-length, where it got looser. It was long and looked so amazing on her.

"Lily your dress is perfect!" Katie exclaimed once Lily put it on. "I just love how it falls off your shoulders so elegantly!" Lily could tell Katie was very excited too.

"Well, Sirius is going to absolutely _die _when he sees you!" Lily told her friend, who laughed.

Lily had curled her red hair into big, loose curls that fell beautifully to the sleeves of her dress, which were on her mid-upper arm. She had a cute and sparkly butterfly clip on the side of her head that was the same green as her dress. She had a pretty necklace that also had a green butterfly dangling on it.

Katie's shiny blonde hair was down perfectly straight, but some was put back into a tiny messy bun, keeping it out of her gorgeous ocean blue eyes. Both girls looked amazing as they got into Lily's limousine to drive to the party.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James and Sirius were standing by the stairs, watching people arrive. They were both wearing black dress trousers and white button up shirts, but left the top two undone. They were also wearing black suit jackets over the shirt.

Their breath caught as Lily and Katie stepped though the door. They both looked so beautiful. Sirius walked up to Katie and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her deeply. James stepped over to Lily.

"You look beautiful, Lily." He told her and she blushed and smiled.

"Thank you. You look nice yourself." She replied.

"Is Remus coming?" She asked, after an awkward silence.

"Sure, he'll be here. Peter too. Would you like a drink? Butterbeer, yeah?" James asked.

"Yes, thanks." He disappeared into the kitchen to get them drinks. Lily smiled at Katie and Sirius as they walked over to Lily.

"You look pretty, Lily." Sirius said politely, nodding to her.

"Thank you." Lily said again. James returned with some butterbeers and the four found a place to sit.

After a while, they walked to the ballroom and Sirius and Katie began to dance. James offered Lily his hand.

"Would you like to join me?" He asked her and she accepted. After dancing to fast and slow songs, James look Lily out to the backyard. The pool was glittering from the lights outside, and it was very cold out. Near the mini Quidditch field, there was a pond with flowers and benches surrounding the water.

"This is so pretty, James." Lily looked at everything outside.

"So are you." He replied, looking at her. Lily blushed and looked down, but finally looked up, smiled at James and gazed at the stars. James saw her shiver from the cold and gathered her in his arms. Lily didn't protest, and James grinned to himself.

"Thanks for inviting me. It's been fun." Lily looked at him.

"I'm glad you came." He looked into her emerald eyes. "I really like you, Lily." He said before pressing his lips upon hers.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**hey! I didn't like this chapter too much, but I hope you did! Please, please review, because it means so much to me! **

**Much love,  
HPFan670**

Thank you soo much to **"me", Rebel Rose, HPFreak, and secret-keeper. **Your reviews were the best! I hope you liked this.

**potterchick1---**thanks so much! haha yeah fluff is cute. I hope you liked this chapter too! Thanks for all your reviews…it means a lot to me how much you review!

**strwbrrydaquiri---**thank you very much! Your review made me very happy to know I have support like that! I hope you enjoyed this!

**Lyny Angell---**hey! haha of COURSE Sirius and food are together! (Don't know how that got started though…) Oh and I love Katie too! (haha) Sorry about the mistakes…it's summer, I relax a bit more. I'm going back to school soon anyway so I can't relax too much more! I tried a bit harder in this chapter...hope you noticed a difference. Also hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

**beyonce-85---** haha yeah I think green shoes are cool too. They are like, they only color shoes I don't have though…I mean light blue, dark blue, pink, white, purple, etc...no green! haha anyways…hope you thought this chapter was good too.

**Thank you!**


	7. Finally Love

**Hello! Thank you so much for reviewing!**

**I am so sorry that it took so long!**

**My excuse is at the bottom!**

**Chapter 7—Finally Love**

"_Thanks for inviting me. It's been fun." Lily looked at him._

"_I'm glad you came." He looked into her emerald eyes. "I really like you, Lily." He said before pressing his lips upon hers. _

After they broke apart, Lily touched her lips as though she couldn't believe what had just happened.

"I-I'm sorry, Lily." James said nervously, after she didn't say anything. She didn't reply for a while and just as James turned to walk away, she grabbed his arm. He spun around to face her and gave her a questioning look, but then she kissed him again. He smiled in the kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist, as she did with hers around his neck. Just as James deepened the kiss, there were cheers and cat calls. Sirius, Remus, Katie and Peter were standing by the back door.

"We were wondering where you two were!" Katie exclaimed, smiling.

"Yeah, well let's go inside, I'm freezing cold." Lily said, and everyone went back into the warm house. On the way back in, Lily grabbed Katie's arm and stopped her.

"Wait! I need to talk to you." She whispered. "We'll be inside in a minute." She called to everyone else.

"What is it, Lily?" Katie looked concerned.

"I don't know what to do." Lily confessed.

"Do about what?"

"James."

"What about James?"

"Katie! Did you not just see us kiss?"

"I did, but Lily…if you like him then tell him."

"I-I don't know."

"Well, tell me everything that happened."

"Okay, well we were outside and walking around and then James put his arms around me and kissed me and then pulled away, but I grabbed him and kissed him again!" Lily told her.

"Just see what happens, Lily, just see what happens." Katie gave Lily a quick hug and they stepped back inside to the party.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily was sitting in the Gryffindor room with James, Remus and Peter. They were all finishing up their holiday work. Sirius and Katie were out, probably somewhere snogging.

"Lily, erm, there's a Hogsmeade trip next weekend. Would you like to go? I mean, not doubling with Sirius and Katie." James asked.

"Okay, that sounds nice." Lily smiled at him and he grinned. Lily swore she heard Remus chuckle, but he acted as if nothing happened.

"Oh, and Sirius wanted me to ask you to read his Potions essay." James smiled innocently as he handed her Sirius' parchment. Lily rolled her eyes but took it and began reading it.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

On the morning of their date, Lily woke up early. She took a long, steamy hot shower, and went back to her room, dressed in her towel, to decide what to wear. She searched through everything in the bureau and moved on to the closet. In the back, she found a short denim skirt, which she hadn't worn since she was fourteen. After seeing that it surprisingly still fit, she looked for a shirt. She decided on a tight, white see-through shirt that had a slightly low cut neck, but small buttons to button it up, and a white tank top with tiny green flowers under it. (a/n—I am awful at describing clothes!) She curled her hair into big, loose curls again, because it looked so pretty, and fell just below her shoulders.

Katie entered Lily's room when Lily was applying her make up.

"Lily! You look great and I didn't even help you! I'm so proud of you!" Katie joked and Lily laughed.

"C'mon, I had to learn something from you. You've been giving me tips since we were 10." Lily answered, and Katie replied with a smile. "Let's go to breakfast." Lily said, putting her lip gloss down.

"Good, I'm starving." Katie linked her arm with Lily's and they walked to the Great Hall.

"You look nice, Lily." Remus told her appreciatively.

"Thanks Remus." She smiled and sat down to fill her plate.

"Getting all pretty for Jamesy, Lilykins?" Sirius asked.

"Are you saying I'm not normally pretty?" Lily joked, but apparently Sirius didn't figure that out.

"What? No, no, you are!" Sirius defended himself, and Katie played along by glaring at him.

"So you're noticing other girls? Gosh, Sirius! You're so rude!" Katie accused.

"What is going on? Katie, you're my girlfriend, you know I love you! I'm just being nice, I-I'm just saying Lily's pretty. She's my friend. Hell, she loves James so why would I even have a chance? Not that I would want one or anything--." Sirius rambled.

"My gosh, Sirius, we're joking. You really talk a lot when you're nervous." Lily laughed.

"Shut up." He scowled.

"Anyways, where's James?" She asked.

"He said he'd go to the kitchens for breakfast, he wanted to sleep as late as he could, before your date." Peter told Lily.

"Speaking of your date, when are you supposed to meet him?" Remus asked.

"Noon. What time is it?"

"Eleven."

"I'll go back to the Gryffindor dorm with you guys until it's time. Katie, are you and Sirius going to Hogsmeade?" Lily asked.

"No, we're getting food at the kitchen and then playing Quidditch." Katie answered.

"Okay, have a good time." Lily told her friend.

"You too." Katie replied, smiling devilishly, which just made Lily laugh as they left the Great Hall. But she didn't notice a pair of eyes watching her.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The Gryffindor Dorm was warm and cozy, as a light snow fell outside. Lily sat close to Sirius, since he was also warm and Lily was only wearing a short skirt and t-shirt. He was one of her best friends, so it was fine with Katie, who snuggled up to Sirius's other side. A while later Lily left to get her jacket from her room. It was a pretty denim one, with a fuzzy lining to keep her warm. After slipping it on, she walked to the entrance hall to meet James. He was wearing jeans and a plain t-shirt with a collared jacket over it.

"Lily. You look great." He smiled, which she returned.

"Thank you."

They walked down the busy street of Hogsmeade, where every student was chatting happily. The snow was still falling, so many people were inside Three Broomsticks, but they decided to go there. James kindly opened the door for Lily and found a place to sit.

"Butterbeer, yeah?" He asked and went up to get the drinks after she nodded. He came back with two bottles of butterbeer, and some food.

"So, Lily, erm, you're house is beautiful." James said. Lily looked at him confused. "Sorry, I say random things when I'm nervous." Lily smiled.

"Why are you nervous?" She asked.

"You're actually going out with me."

"I did before."

"Because Katie persuaded you."

"Oh."

"Okay, so do you want to walk around?" James asked and she nodded.

"Sure."

They headed down the street towards Honeydukes. James reached over to Lily and brushed the snow out of her loose curls. She looked up at him and smiled.

"I love your hair, Lily. It's such a pretty color." He said. Lily laughed. James liked it, because it was a soft, lovely laugh.

"You're going soft, James." She replied.

"Am not!" He insisted. Lily just grinned and pushed open the door to Honeydukes.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They sat on a bench near the end of the street. Not many people were down there, so it was nice. Lily looked at the snow and sighed out of pure happiness.

"Lily?" James spoke softly. She turned her head and looked into his dark eyes. "I know I've asked this countless times--." He took her hands in his. "—But will you be my girlfriend?"

She thought for a second. "I know you don't expect this, but yes." She smiled sweetly. "I will."

James grinned a huge grin and leaned forward to kiss her softly. He pulled her towards him by putting his arms around her waist. After they pulled her apart, Lily hugged him.

"Let's go back to the castle." James said standing up. He took her hand and kissed it as she stood up, and they walked back to the castle hand-in-hand.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

At the Quidditch pitch, James and Lily spotted Sirius and Katie walking back. Katie saw them holding hands, and forgetting about Sirius, took off sprinting towards them. She threw her arms roughly around Lily, laughing.

"I knew it! I knew it!" She yelled. Other students were starting at her. Lily laughed. Katie's face was flushed from flying in the cold, and her blonde hair was sprinkled with snow. Sirius finally caught up to them, and slapped James on the back.

"Finally, Prongs." He said. James smiled sarcastically and headed back to the castle.

Back in the Gryffindor common room, James and Lily were relaxing on the couch. James was leaning against the arm and the back of it, while Lily leaned against his chest. He put his arms protectively around her. A couple guys from 5th and 6th year, who knew Lily and James's history, smirked at James from across the room. Luckily, Lily did not notice this.

Remus was helping Peter with his Transfiguration homework, and Sirius and Katie were laughing about something together, before Sirius kissed her full on the lips. Lily spotted girls glaring at either her or Katie, since they had taken the hottest guys. Lily smiled and snuggled up closer to James, which he liked. James buried his face in Lily's strawberry scented hair and smiled to himself. After a peaceful moment, Sirius unlocked his lips from Katie's.

"I'm hungry." He announced. Lily laughed happily.

"You _always _are."

"Let's just go to dinner." He grumbled back, taking Katie's hand and dragging her out of the common room.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Lily, can I talk to you for a second?" Lily spun around to see Jason jogging up behind her. Lily was talking a walk around the frozen lake.

"Oh, erm, hi, Jason." She responded.

"How are you?" He asked.

"I'm doing alright, you?"

"Fine." There was an awkward silence between them. "Do you want to sit down somewhere?" He walked over to the castle, where there was a bench against the wall. He put a heating charm on it, to warm it up.

"So, erm, haven't talked to you in a while, have I?" Jason asked.

"Jason, why are you here?" Lily was curious.

"Okay well, I-I needed to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"Are you going out with Potter?"

"Kind of. Well, yeah I suppose so. Why?"

"Erm, just because." He pushed his hair out of his eyes with his hand and looked away.

"Jason, what?"

"Lily, I think I like you." Lily shut her eyes and breathed deeply.

"Jason, I've got a boyfriend. I'm sorry." Lily said and ran back inside the castle.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**so there. I decided to write again….happy now? hope so. so I hope this was a good chapter…school has been keeping me so busy what with all the work and band (teacher hates me too hahaha) and decided whether or not to be guys basketball manager. (mm how fun would THAT be? hehe) so I hope that's a good enough excuse. **

**Much love,**

**HPFan670 (ah I hate that name but I'm afraid that if I change it, no one will recognize meee. **

**REVIEW AND I'LL UPDATE AGAIN!**


	8. It's All His Fault

**Okay, so just this ONCE I will update with few reviews, just to make up for lost time, but next time, I need more if you want it updated! Thanks and much love. **

Chapter 8---It's All His Fault

"_Lily, I think I like you." Jason told her. Lily shut her eyes and breathed deeply. _

"_Jason, I've got a boyfriend. I'm sorry." She said and ran back inside the castle._

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Whoa, Lily, slow down, almost ran into me." Sirius stopped her by grabbing her shoulders.

"Oh, erm, sorry." She said and stepped around him and tried to keep going.

"Wait, what's the matter?" That was one thing Lily loved about Sirius. He could always tell when something was wrong, no matter how clueless he appeared.

"What? Oh nothing, I'm just walking fast because I'm cold." Lily lied. Too bad Sirius could detect lies, also.

"Lily, what happened? You can tell me, you know." Sirius told her.

"Yeah, I know. It's just nothing. I'm just confused about something. No big deal." She said in response. Sirius looked into her beautiful green eyes for an answer.

"It's about James, isn't it?"

"No." But Lily looked away, making Sirius know his statement was true. "Well, more like someone else."

"You fancy someone else already?"

"No."

"Then what, Lily, I'm not magic, I can't read minds. Hey wait! I am magic, just not with reading minds."

Lily smiled and looked at his caring face. "It's Jason."

"I thought you were done with him."

"I am. He's not done with me."

"Ah." Sirius nodded his head downward in understanding.

"I just don't know what to do."

"Look, Lils, I know this isn't my business, but it's my best friend. I don't think you should hurt James. He's waited long enough for you, and I don't want you to make it just a little crush. Seriously, he never just liked you, Lily, he always loved you. I mean really loved and cared about you, no matter how he seemed to put it." Sirius said. His statement brought tears to her eyes and she bit her lower lip.

"I know, Sirius. I don't like Jason. I really like James. I'm just confused, really."

"If you don't like him, why are you confused so much?" Lily didn't have an answer to that. Sirius pulled her into a comforting hug and let her relax into him. She never thought the day would come when she loved a Marauder and became a best friend of another. It wasn't a bad feeling.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The scratching of James's quill was really starting to annoy Lily. She took a deep breath and tried to focus on her book, but the scratching wouldn't stop. She marched over to where James was sitting in their private common room and snatched the quill right out of his hand.

"Hey!"

"Will you stop? It's really annoying."

"But what else will I do now?"

Lily placed a kiss on his lips.

"Alrighty then." He smirked and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her deeply and pulling her on top of him. He ran his hands through her smooth hair. Lily began to unbutton his shirt and his hands found her bare stomach skin. She placed her hands on his bare chest but then pulled away suddenly.

"James, I can't. I'm sorry." She sat up on the couch, pulling her top down. James exhaled and ruffled his hair. Lily, embarrassed muttered something about talking to Katie and walked out of the common room.

Lily entered the Gryffindor common room and saw Sirius and Katie doing their work. Remus was by the window assisting Peter with Potions.

"Sirius, can I sit there for a second, I need to talk to Katie." She asked.

"Yeah sure." He moved over to a chair and Lily plopped down next to her.

"What's going on, Lils?" She asked. Lily bit her lip and her eyes widened a bit. Katie cocked her head like a puppy and her eyes slowly grew larger.

"Did you..?" She whispered, but Lily shook her head.

"Almost."

"Wow, okay erm. What happened?"

"You mean why didn't I?" Lily asked, and Katie nodded.

"I got nervous. I don't think I'm ready." She explained.

"Lily, that's fine. Was James okay?"

"I think so. He just sighed and ruffled his hair."

"Don't worry, Lily, he's alright. I think it's too soon anyway." Katie told her.

"Okay, I'm glad you agree. I hope James isn't mad."

"If he really loved you, he won't be." Katie said. "Now, edit this please." She dumped a pile of work onto Lily's lap and grinned. Lily laughed and began reading.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It was after midnight before Lily got back to the Heads dorm. She walked quietly up the stairs and went to open her door, but stopped. She crossed the balcony and quietly opened James's door instead. He was in his bed, asleep, wearing only his boxers and the blankets kicked off. Lily smiled and carefully climbed into his bed, snuggling up into him.

"Lily?" He whispered. She opened her eyes and smiled.

"Yeah, it's me." James smiled back and bent down to get the blankets. He pulled them up over Lily and put his arms around her waist and pulled her close, snuggling his face into her good-smelling hair. He heard Lily's slow, steady breathing as she slept, and soon fell back asleep himself.

Lily woke up, wrapped tightly in blankets. It took her a while to realize why she was still in her jeans and t-shirt, and that she was in James's bed. She pulled the blankets down to her waist and sat up, noticing that James was gone. She looked at his clock and realized it was already ten oh clock.

Shortly after she woke up, James emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered.

"Good morning, Lily." He smiled at her and sat next to her. She leaned against him and he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm glad you came in here last night."

"Me too." He kissed the top of her head.

"Listen, I really hate to leave but I've got Quidditch practice. I promise to meet up with you later." He told her.

"It's okay; I better take a shower and work on my essay. Love you." She kissed his lips and watched him walk out of the room.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James, Sirius and Katie were still at Quidditch practice after Lily showered, so instead of working on her essay, she roamed the castle. She loved it on the weekends, when it was chilly and the sun shined (a/n, shone? I cannot figure that out) perfectly through the windows.

"Lily!" She heard a deep voice call her name and spun around to see Jason jogging to catch up with her.

"Hey, how are you?" He asked.

"Fine, you?"

"Fine." They walked for a while in silence.

"Lily, can I…" He trailed off. She looked up at him to ask him what he wanted, but as soon as she did, she regretted it. He placed his lips upon hers. Lily froze. She was scared. She loved James. She wanted James. Not Jason. She needed to get away. Just as she pulled away, she heard a horrified voice.

"Lily!" She saw James pale, horrified and hurt face, looking right at her.

"James! It's not what you think! Really, it's not!" She tried to defend herself. James just looked at her, turned around and took off sprinting. Lily turned to face Jason.

"What's your problem?" She screamed. "You ruined **everything**!" She began sprinting at a speed she had never run before, tears filling her eyes fast. "Wait! Lily!" She heard Jason behind her.

"Miss Evans! Freeze this instant!" Lily heard McGonagall's voice.

"Please, Professor, please, let me go." She began, and her voice broke and the sobbing began.

"What's the matter, Miss Evans?"

"N-Nothing, Professor, I need to go, please!" Her face was soaked with tears.

"Fine, but if I catch you running again, it's a detention." Lily nodded and walked fast until McGonagall was out of site and she took of at her amazing speed. She heard shouts of "Lily!", "Hey, what happened?" but ignored them as she sobbed and sprinted. She finally reached the Heads dorm and said the password to let herself in. She tore up the stairs and into James's room, but it was empty.

She darted to the Gryffindor dorm and stumbled through the portrait. "Sirius! I need to find James!" She choked out. Everyone in the common room was staring at her. Sirius came out of his dorm and saw Lily's face, ran back into his room and came out with a piece of old parchment.

"Take this, look for his name and follow it, Lily. I'll ask what happened later." He said and she said a hasty thanks before taking off again, the tears not stopping one bit. She saw a dot labeled _James Potter _and without wondering where Sirius got this map, she followed James. It was simple since his dot was not moving, but once she reached the spot he was supposed to be, he wasn't there.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Hiding under his invisibility cloak, James saw her coming. He didn't come out though. She saw Lily's soaked face and heard her sobs. She must have been running, because she was out of breath. James just sat in stony silence, watching what she would do next. Her sobs increased once she didn't see him, and James debated about coming out or not. He decided not to. Lily hurt him like never before.

Lily turned around and walked slowly back to the Gryffindor common room. She emerged from the portrait and saw Katie sitting on the couch. Once Katie saw Lily's tear-stained face she jumped up and ran over.

"Lily, what happened?" She hugged her best friend tightly.

"It's over, Katie, I ruined it and didn't even do anything!" Lily sobbed harder than ever as Katie hugged her. "It's over…"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

**sooo…hope you appreciate me updating twice in two days! I wrote this chapter in a few hours, so I hope it's good! I am also hoping for more reviews this time! I just think I owe it to you since I didn't update since August until yesterday. Hope you enjoyed it and PLEASE REVIEW!**

**Much Love,**

**HPF670**


	9. This Coldness of Us Is Killing Me

**so guess what? I'm updating again!**

**I SAW GOF AND IT WAS AMAZING! Definitely the BEST so far. I am absolutely in LOVE with Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Tom Felton. They are the HOTTEST guys EVER. (loved the bath scene too, hahahaha) **

**Chapter 9---This Coldness Of Us is Killing Me**

_Once Katie saw Lily's tear-stained face she jumped up and ran over._

"_Lily, what happened?" She hugged her best friend tightly._

"_It's over, Katie, I ruined it and didn't even do anything!" Lily sobbed harder than ever as Katie hugged her. "It's over…"_

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Lily lay on the soft scarlet couch in the Gryffindor common room. Her tears had ceased, but she felt this sadness she couldn't shake off. Katie had gotten her a blanket from the girls' dorm and Lily lay there, staring out the icy window. Other students in the common room left her alone, which Lily was grateful for. They had all seen her sob with Katie for almost an hour, and knew better than to bring it up again.

The other Marauders were somewhere with James. The last time Lily saw him was when she saw his pale, horrified face. She couldn't put that picture out of her head. She didn't know how long she was lying there, but she noticed it slowly getting darker outside. Katie emerged through the portrait and over to Lily.

"Hi, Lils." She said softly, sitting on the floor in front of Lily, a sympathetic expression on her face.

"Hi." Lily said back.

"You okay?" Katie asked. "No, stupid question, of course you're not. Do you want anything? Are you hungry?" Lily shook her head.

"Can I stay here tonight?" Lily asked.

"Of course, do you need anything from your room?"

"I just need my pajamas and toothbrush, but I can get it if you want."

"No, don't worry about it, I'll get it."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James lay on the couch in the Heads common room, his arms tucked behind his head. Sirius, Remus and Peter were sitting on the furniture around him, but they were silent until Sirius spoke.

"She talked to me the other day, you know?" He told James. James turned his head to face Sirius.

"She did? About what?"

"Jason." James turned his head back to face the ceiling.

"She seemed upset." Sirius continued. "He told her he liked her, but she said she loved you."

"Well if she loved me, she wouldn't be snogging with him." James said, toneless.

"Did you ever think it wasn't her fault?" Sirius asked. James propped himself up on his elbows.

"Aren't you supposed to be on my side, Sirius?"

"I am, but you don't know what happened, Prongs."

"Sirius! I saw what I saw!" James snapped. "They were kissing like lovers!" Sirius blew his dark hair out of his eyes and exchanged glances with Remus. They fell silent again.

"Do you know what Jason is like?" Sirius spoke again.

"I know girls think he's good looking! Lily could have fallen for him too!"

"Prongs, it's _Lily_, we're talking about. It took her six years to fall in love with _you_!" Sirius regretted saying that after it came out. James looked at him with stony silence.

"And you see how long that lasted now, do you?" He finally whispered. Sirius exhaled quickly.

"When she came to the Gryffindor common room, she was hysterical. Sobbing all over the place and shaking. If she was over you, she wouldn't have come running after you!" Sirius continued.

"Sirius, stop it!" James yelled. "You're acting as if YOU'RE in love with her!"

"I'm not, _James_, hate to tell you, but I love Katie!" Sirius defended himself.

"Yeah, sure you do! You've been with how many girls since first year? 20? 30? How long will Katie last with you? James spat. Sirius didn't respond until a few seconds later.

"Forever. Because I really love her. Like you love Lily. She loves me. Like Lily loves you." He whispered.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Katie came outside the Heads dorm to year James and Sirius yelling at each other. At Sirius's last words, she bit her lip, but then smiled before saying the password. She entered the room, but there was a tense silence among the guys.

"Sorry. I'm just getting Lily's things." She said before marching up the staircase to Lily's room. She grabbed pajamas and the toothbrush and went downstairs.

"I heard part of your conversation." She confessed. "Sirius is right, you know. I'm worried about Lily right now. She's not talking or eating. Just lying on the couch. So think about what Sirius said."

Lily was sitting by the fireplace, knees hugged to her chest and wrapped around a blanket when Katie came back. Her face was glowing with the warmth of the fire.

"How are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm, erm, alright, I suppose." Lily answered.

"I think I'm going to head to bed, it's getting late, and we've got class tomorrow. Will you be alright?" Lily nodded in response and kept staring at the fire, listening to Katie's footsteps up the stairs.

A while later, Lily was still sitting by the fire, and Sirius and Remus returned and Lily didn't hear. Sirius motioned for Remus to go ahead. He walked quietly up to Lily and sat down next to her.

"Hey." He whispered.

"Hey." She said, resting her chin on her knees.

"Are you doing alright?" He asked her and she shrugged.

"How's James?"

"He's well. Upset."

"Yeah. I don't know what to say. It really wasn't my fault."

"I believe you." Sirius said and she turned her head to face him.

"Really?" He nodded. "I just wish James would." She said, her voice beginning to choke again.

"We'll get him to, Lily." He said, wrapping his arm around her. She put her head on his shoulder and let her tears fall quietly.

"Thank you Sirius. You're the best friend ever." He just squeezed her shoulder as the tears streamed down her cheeks.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James woke with a start the next morning. He slowly remembered what happened the day before and fell back onto his bed. He didn't feel like lazing around all day, so he got up and took a hot shower, then realized it was only 7 o' clock. Classes didn't start until 9. He walked out into the cold and jogged to the Quidditch pitch. He grabbed his broom out of the locker room, and a practice Snitch. He flew around faster than ever, trying to leave his memories of yesterday behind, stopping only when he grew numb from the February coldness.

Lily woke up disoriented. She was cold and had a headache. The dorm was empty, and she figured everyone was at breakfast, but when she looked Katie's clock, it was already 9:45. "Damn!" She swore and threw on her school robes, checking in the mirror to make sure her hair looked okay, since she didn't have time to shower. She was already very late to Transfiguration. She ran a brush through her hair and stumbled out of the deserted common room.

She ran to Transfiguration and burst open through the door, everyone turning around to look at her.

"I-I'm sorry Professor, I didn't realize I never set an alarm to wake up." Lily apologized.

"Just have a seat please, Miss Evans." McGonagall sighed. Lily walked up to the table where Katie was sitting and sat next to her.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" She whispered.

"You looked tired. When did you get to bed?"

"I think it was around two."

"Well that's why. You had a rough day yesterday and I figured you needed your sleep. You're smart enough to catch up in class." Katie told her.

"Ladies! Hush!" McGonagall stared at them.

Lily turned her head sideways and saw James staring at her, but as soon as he saw her look, he quickly tore his eyes away, staring at the front of the class with a stony expression. Lily looked down and her eyes became watery, but she tried to concentrate on McGonagall's lesson.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James was wondering where Lily was. She never missed a lesson and that worried him, but he didn't show it. The door suddenly burst open and Lily came in the classroom. James was instantly shocked. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, with huge dark circles around them. He watched McGonagall's face turn to slight surprise when she saw Lily, so she excused her tardiness.

He didn't know what to do. He found his eyes turned towards Lily, but once she caught his, a coldness swept over it and he tore his eyes away. He snuck a quick peek at Lily's reaction. She was facing the desk with her eyes watery.

But James didn't care. She hurt him. He needed to hurt her back.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily sat in the Gryffindor common room, working on her Charms essay, while everyone went to lunch. She wasn't hungry anymore. She felt constantly tired and all she wanted to do was to sleep. However, she wanted to be strong, she wanted to show James she could be strong against his hurtfulness towards her. She wished she could just talk to him, tell him about the conversation she had with Jason, and why he kissed her.

The portrait opened, and the Marauders and Katie came through.

"James! I need to talk to you, please!" She cried.

"Sorry, Evans, I've got Arithmancy." She said coldly, using her last name as he had done for six years. Lily exhaled deeply, determined not to cry in front of him.

"Listen to me! I didn't do anything! He did it all! I had nothing to do with it! LISTEN!" She screamed. James just stared at her screaming body, expressionless. "All I did was turn my head to face him and he kissed me! I DID NOTHING!" The tears started falling. James shook his head, walked out of the common room and slammed the portrait behind him. They heard the fat lady yell, "Hey, watch it, Mr. Potter!" and James roaring in return "SHUT UP!" Lily tried not to cry, causing her face to crumple. Everyone in the common room was silent and staring at her. She felt dizzy and black spots appeared in her eyes. She felt herself going weak.

"Lily!" She faintly heard Katie's worried voice, and before she hit the ground, she felt Sirius's strong arms catching her. Then everything became black.

Lily woke up and found herself on the couch. She saw Sirius draped lazily over on the other couch, reading his Charms book. He felt eyes on him and looked over in Lily's direction.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked. She sat up and nodded.

"Where is everyone?"

"Class." He answered, and she remembered that she and Sirius were the only ones with the free period now.

"I made a fool out of myself didn't I?" She asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"You're upset Lily, and James isn't listening to you. You've never had to go through this before. That guy you dated in 5th year, you broke up with him. The one in 6th year, well he broke up with you but you hated him anyway. You're new at this. Don't worry about it. I'm surprised at James though, he wanted you for so long, he got you and now he won't give you the time of day."

"Yeah." Was all Lily said in response. "Sirius, I need your help." She eventually said.

"Yeah, I know Lils, I've been trying to think of ways to talk to James, but he is so incredibly stubborn."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily had a plan. It wasn't one that took a lot of skill, but she had it. It was simple. James thought she wasn't coming to the Heads dorm again, so she would 'surprise' him by being in there and cornering him. She heard someone tapping the portrait and then "James Potter" and she got ready. Sure enough, he was surprised to see her there, but tried to keep going to his room.

"Wait." Lily said. James reached the staircase but froze. "Please, can I just talk to you. You don't have to talk to me, but I just need you know everything. Please, James." She looked into his eyes, which she knew would weaken him. He stepped down and walked over to her.

"Fine."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**So what did you think? I think it's been my longest chapter yet, so I hope it was good and up to your standards! I've been working really hard. I have never updated 3 times in 4 days before…so please appreciate that! Please review also!**

**Thank you sunkissed017, Lyny Angell, Livin 4 Dancin, Teresa Hughes and Potterchick1 for reviewing. It meant a lot to me to get your reviews! Thanks!**

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**HPF670**


	10. Murdered Among Us

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**Please review again!**

Chapter 10—Murdered Among Us

"_Wait." Lily said. James reached the staircase but froze. "Please, can I just talk to you. You don't have to talk to me, but I just need you know everything. Please, James." She looked into his eyes, which she knew would weaken him. He stepped down and walked over to her._

"_Fine."_

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

James listened painfully to Lily's story. Her eyes were getting watery and her voice unsteady, but she made it all the way through. It was a story that seemed so unreal, it was almost unbelievable. Lily looked deeply into his eyes, but he tore them away. Her eyes could weaken the darkest wizard.

"Lily, no one can get kissed by accident." He said.

"James! I've told you this already! He said 'Lily, can I…' and I looked up to see what he was going to say, and then he just leaned down and kissed me, and I pulled away as soon as he did, but you came too late!"

"This is ridiculous. No one can believe this!"

"I need you to! It's all I've got!"

"All you've got? Tell me the real story then!"

"That _is _the real story. James…" She trailed off. He looked up at her and she kissed him, similar to what Jason had done. James pulled away, and that hurt Lily. He looked at her in disbelief.

"How do I know that's what happened?"

"You have to believe me! Don't you love me?"

"I'm not so sure about that." His comment stung and Lily looked down, regained her strength and faced him again.

"You've known me seven years, James. The only person who's known me longer is

Katie. Now, out of those seven years, when have I lied?"

"Gee, I wouldn't know. You spent six of those years call me a big-headed prat!"

"I don't lie, James."

"Okay." Was all he said and walked up to his room. He heard Lily sniff loudly, but he didn't turn back. He needed to think.

Meanwhile, Lily sat on the couch, thinking of how pointless her story was. She felt terrible. The argument they had seemed to make no difference to how things were before. The portrait door opened and Sirius entered, looking around.

"Hi, Lils, did you talk to Prongs?" He asked.

"Yeah." She responded.

"Didn't go well?"

"How'd you guess?" Lily said dully.

"You're face looks devastated." He walked over to her and squeezed her shoulder. "I'll go talk to him."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James heard a knock on his door and saw Sirius coming in. James exhaled deeply.

"So Lily talked to you, huh?" James asked.

"Yeah, after she passed out earlier." James sat up.

"She passed out, when?" He asked.

"After your little fight in the common room. She got all pale and just dropped down. She would have hit her head on the table if I didn't catch her." Sirius explained and James looked out the window. "You're hurting her really bad."

"Who _are _you, Sirius? I thought you were supposed to be on my side? Everyone is acting as if _I'm _the bad person. She was the one kissing the other guy!"

"Prongs, the story she told you was true. Honestly. Come with me." He led the way to the balcony where they could see Lily sitting on the couch reading. "What are you thinking right now?" James was quiet for a moment.

"I'm thinking that I love her." He said.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

It was a Hogsmeade weekend, but none of the Gryffindors felt like going.

"Let's go running." Katie said suddenly, as she and Lily were working in the common room.

"It's cold."

"So? We'll get warm after we've been running. Pleaseee? I haven't exercised in a long time."

"Katie, you play Quidditch."

"Yes, but all we do is play Quidditch at practice, we don't run or anything."

"Fine."

They changed into their small running shorts and old t-shirts. After tying their hair back they raced each other to the Quidditch pitch.

"Wow that feels good." Lily smiled.

"C'mon, I'll race again. Two laps around the pitch."

"Easy." Lily agreed. On the count of three, they both took off. They ran with the same exact stride, Lily pushing to reach that amazing speed she had that day Jason kissed her. "Katie, pole!" Katie swerved out of the way just in time, and the girls kept running, while they laughed and laughed. They easily finished the two laps at the same time. They fell back into the sand, breathing and laughing from the pure enjoyment of running.

"Lily, can I talk to you?" She looked up and saw Jason's tall body standing over her. Her laughter died and smile faded. Katie glared at him. He held out his hand to help Lily up, but she got up on her own, and pulled down her shorts.

"I, erm, saw you run. You're a good runner."

"Yeah."

"Listen, I heard what happened with you and James. I hope it wasn't my fault." Lily laughed a hurt laugh.

"Not your fault? It was **all** your fault." Jason looked away, his handsome features looked hurt. "Lily I like you."

"I know that Jason, but I had already told you, I have a boyfriend and I love him. Jason, I liked you at the beginning of the year. You were nice at first, really good-looking, etc, but then you stopped talking to me, so you lost the chance. I'm sorry." She said and jogged back to Katie.

"You okay, Lil?"

"Yeah, thanks Kate. I think I just needed to talk to Jason." Katie smiled and hugged her best friend.

"Let's go. I'm getting cold." She took off running to the castle, with Lily following her.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Would ALL students please report to the Great Hall _immediately_. This is no drill, come _quickly_." McGonagall's voice traveled around the school. Lily and Katie looked at each other and left to go to the Great Hall.

"Please! Have a seat immediately! Quiet down!" Dumbledore said once they reached the Great Hall.

"I must tell you some sad news. Hogsmeade is no longer allowed to students this year." A murmur of protest arose through the crowd. "Silence! There is quite a reason for doing so! As you know, the dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, as he likes to be called, is gathering followers, committing crimes of wrongdoing. Today in Hogsmeade, a student was snatched from the crowd and murdered. Murdered among us who are still living and breathing, without us knowing until it was too late." There was complete silence in the Great Hall. It was a sad silence, and no one knew who the student was.

"I need you all to stick together. This is a time of togetherness, friendship and helpfulness. The imperious curse is popular, many of you older students know of it. If someone you know is acting strangely, please, don't by **any **means hesitate to report. 'Anyone can give up because it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.' That is what we must rely on now. True strength."

Lily and Katie's eyes were teary. They knew all the peaceful times were over. This was it.

No one left the Great Hall right away. Younger students were scared, and older ones were deep in thought and sadness.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

There were new rules. It was as if the Chamber of Secrets had opened again, which occurred in Lily's first year. She was still thankful she was not killed then. Students couldn't be roaming around after dark, no Hogsmeade, and no one was allowed to walk around alone. It was a scary time for everyone.

Lily and James were still not back together. Their relationship was as cold as the temperature outside. Lily was sick of it all.

"Is this how it's going to be now? Only talking to each other when necessary?" She cornered him in the common room.

"Lily, I don't know." He told her.

"James, I've told you the story. I gave an example. I don't know what else to do. I'm sorry. I give up." He sadly watched her walk out of the portrait, neither of them remembering the new rule.

Lily was mad. She didn't know what else to do to James. She still couldn't believe that after finally falling in love with him, because of an accident someone caused, he was rejecting her. She suddenly heard quiet footsteps behind her and she whipped around, but saw no one. A chill ran up her spine and she picked up her speed. It was only now she remembered not to walk alone.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"C'mon, Padfoot, Moony, let's go get food. We'll take the cloak though, it's getting dark." James suggested.

"Do we need to tell Wormtail?" Remus asked.

"He's getting tutored with McGonagall tonight." Sirius answered and got under the cloak with James and Remus.

"Hey, Prongs, is that Lily?" Remus asked, spotting a redhead in front of them.

"Yeah, I guess it is. She shouldn't be walking around alone." He answered.

"Prongs! Moony! Look over there!" Someone tall and in dark robs came out of the shadows. They saw it hide and Lily spin around. She looked scared.

"What is he doing?" Remus whispered aloud, once he started following Lily again. They saw him pull a wand slowly out of his robes. Lily was holding on tightly to something in her back pocket. The marauders assumed it was her wand. She spun around again, wide-eyed, but the mysterious guy hid just in time. He pointed his wand at Lily's back.

"LILY!" Sirius yelled just as James yelled "STUPEFY!" Sending the guy falling back unconscious.

Lily screamed and turned around. She saw Sirius, James and Remus standing with wands out, James pointing his at a guy lying on the ground.

"What happened?" She asked, scared and staring at the figure.

"We were going to the kitchen and we saw someone following you and then he pulled his wand out and pointed it at you and that's when you heard us." Sirius explained. Lily walked over to them.

"Thank you." She said. They all nodded simultaneously, making her smile.

"Prongs, we'll get food and meet you at the common room." James and Lily watched them walk away until they were the only ones left in the hallway. Lily looked at James.

"So, erm, thank you." She said again, but James said nothing. Lily was getting ready to walk away but he stepped forward and placed his hands softly around her neck and kissed her. He deepened the kiss and Lily moaned.

"I've missed that." She whispered and he pressed his forehead against hers and laced his fingers with hers and grinned.

"Me too." He said, kissing her sweetly.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**There you go! Another chapter! I hope it was good…I really do! I've been working hard to finish it, since I won't get the chance to update for a few days. I really appreciate all the reviews you give. I won't be greedy, but I would love more! Thanks so much!**

**Much love,**

**HPF670**

**Livin 4 Dancin, potterchick1, and sunkissed017-**thanks so much! I love getting your reviews! I appreciate it SO much! Hope you liked this one as well!

**Lyny Angell- **Thank you! I'm glad I inspired you to update...it makes me feel special hahah! Hope it worked out well for you! Also hoped you enjoyed this chapter.

**dragonsrgorgeous07- **thanks for reviewing, especially since you don't usually do that. It means a lot. I agree...GOF _did _kick major arse. I am definitely seeing it again soon! Hope you like this chapter when you get to read it!


	11. Times Have Changed

**Thank you SO much for reviews! I still haven't gotten as many as I hope to get! I'm not some person who only does this for reviews, but they really encourage me and make me want to keep writing, so I appreciate all the people that take a few extra seconds and drop a review. Thank you.**

Chapter 11—Times Have Changed

"_So, erm, thank you." She said again, but James said nothing. Lily was getting ready to walk away but he stepped forward and placed his hands softly around her neck and kissed her. He deepened the kiss and Lily moaned._

"_I've missed that." She whispered and he pressed his forehead against hers and laced his fingers with hers and grinned. _

"_Me too." He said, kissing her sweetly._

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I'm still thinking it was Malfoy." Sirius stated. Lily groaned.

"Look, Sirius, it's been almost 3 weeks. I appreciate your help saving my life, but you don't need to go on and on about it."

"We need to know who it was." Remus joined the conversation.

"I'm not sure I want to know. We reported it, but there's nothing we can do. It's been to long."

"I agree with her, Padfoot." James said.

"Shut up." Sirius threw a pillow at him. "You _have_ to agree with her, she's your girlfriend."

"Ha-Ha. Well even if she wasn't, I still agree. It's been too long."

"Fine." Sirius mumbled and turned back to work on his Potions essay.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily felt her mattress sink lower and she felt arms around her. She turned over under the blankets to see James. She smiled and snuggled into him.

"Happy birthday, my Lily." He tipped her chin up and placed a loving kiss on her lips. He pulled her close and she buried her face into him. He smelled rather good. "So listen, I hope you're not busy tonight, because there's a little party going on for you, little one."

"Little one? James, I'm eighteen today."

"Yes, but I've been eighteen since August. For you, on the other hand, it's April and you're seventeen until 2:35."

"Fine then." She smiled and kissed him lightly. "I'm going to shower, so I'll see you in a bit."

"Yeah, me too."

As Lily was getting ready for her party, James came in her room. He was carrying a small, neatly wrapped package in his hand.

"You look amazing." She was wearing a short denim skirt that showed off her legs, and a tight, blue spaghetti strap shirt she borrowed from Katie. Her hair was in loose, large ringlet curls, tied up loosely with some curled strands falling down on the side of her face. She grinned happily.

"Thank you."

"Here." He handed her the packaged. She untied the ribbon and opened the silver box. It revealed a shining, beautiful necklace that matched the bracelet he got her for Christmas.

"Oh, James." She whispered. He gently took it out of the box and placed it around her neck. Lily touched the heart shaped charm. "Thank you so much, James. It means a lot." He grinned and wrapped his arms around her waist and she smiled at him. He lightly and quickly tipped her chin up, causing her to look him in the eye.

"I love you, Lily. I really, really love you." He gazed into her eyes and she knew he meant it with all his heart. She knew exactly how she felt.

"I love you too." He pulled her close to him and kissed her with more love than ever. She gladly kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck. She knew, somehow, this was it. It had to be. He was the love of her life.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Happy birthday, Lily!" Katie yelled, excited and hugged her best friend, after Lily showed up at her party with James. She saw a new, gleaming necklace tied around Lily's neck. "It's that from James?" Lily nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, he gave it to me earlier. I absolutely love it."

"It's amazing." Katie told her. "Now, look over there!" There was a table with presents from all the people that showed up at the party.

"That's for me? Wow!" Lily was truly happy. She felt like she'd never be sad again in her whole life. James came up behind her and gathered her in his arms.

"C'mon, dance with me." He asked. Katie smirked and left them alone. Lily spun around to face him, just as a slow song played. He pulled her close to him and smelled her scented hair.

"Mmm, I **love** your hair." He ran his hands through her smooth strands and she smiled.

"Well, I think yours is sexy." She grinned and ruffled his hair just the way he always did.

"You better. It's too late otherwise." He grinned as she threw her head back and laughed.

All night Lily heard 'Happy Birthday' and received many presents. It was so far the best day of her life. James was amazing to her, and she loved him so much. She didn't think it was possible to fall so hard in love this young, but she knew she had.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily changed into plaid pajama pants and a too-small tank top, which revealed three inches of her belly, once she got back to her room. She then walked into James's room and plopped down onto his bed. He smiled when he saw her. He pulled the thick red blankets up around them and she snuggled closely to him, falling immediately asleep. James kissed the top of her head before he did the same.

Once they woke up, neither of them felt like moving. Lily leaned against James's chest and let him run his hands through her hair.

"James, when you first saw me, what did you think?"

"I'll tell you the story. I was getting on the train with Sirius and I saw a girl with the most beautiful red hair. She looked nervous and was quietly talking with a blonde girl, but I recognized her as Katie Connors, because she had attended some of my parent's parties with her father. Katie was pretty, but the redhead had struck something in me and I couldn't stop thinking about her. Sirius and I found a compartment with a sandy haired boy, Remus, and a mousy boy, Peter." Lily listened closely to the story.

"A few minutes later, Katie and the redhead came to our compartment asking to sit with us. The redhead introduced herself as Lily Evans, but she didn't talk to us much. I kept sneaking glances at her, hoping she wouldn't notice. Her eyes were a brilliant green and large and innocent. I couldn't stop thinking about her."

"I was ecstatic we were sorted in the same house, Sirius included since I assumed he would be a Slytherin like his whole family. I became best friends with Remus and Peter, and of course Sirius, because he'd always been my best friend. I noticed Sirius was rather attracted to Katie and me to Lily. I was only twelve, but she was eleven. I decided to ask her out anyway. She rolled her eyes and said no. I asked why and she said because I was full of myself and big headed. It hurt but I didn't let it get to me. You probably know the rest of the story." Lily nodded.

"You really liked me that long, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"I thought you were a know-it-all, I'm-so-cool, Quidditch loving prat."

"Thanks, Lil." She laughed.

"I don't think that anymore." She turned to face him.

"Good." James kissed Lily rough and heard her moan. She ruffled his hair and he smiled into the kiss.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"James! Wake up! Our N.E.W.T exams start in 10 minutes!" He heard Lily's voice calling him. James shot out of bed and caught the shirt Lily tossed him and quickly put it on. He quickly changed his boxers and jeans and ran out the door. They got to the Great Hall just in time. Sirius was leaning back in his chair with his feet propped up and Lily could tell Katie was reviewing facts in her head by her expression. Remus was conversing with Peter, most likely about Transfiguration.

"Quiet! You may begin…NOW!" McGonagall said.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"There's been more deaths!" A sixth year brought the Daily Prophet to the Gryffindor table. It said that 3 muggles and 2 wizards were murdered by You-Know-Who or one of his followers. There was said to be a skull with a serpant emerging from the mouth floating over the scene of the crime. An anonymous source said it was to be called the Dark Mark and all the Death Eaters (You-Know-Who's followers) have it burned on their arms.

"That's terrible." Remus said.

"It's as if Voldemort is trying to rule the world. The ministry won't even say his name. This has got to be bad." Katie added.

"He's really powerful. He's got all these followers, and we don't know who they are, nor have we seen him or them." Sirius pointed out, and no one had anything to respond with.

"I wish there was something we could do." Lily said to James as they walked back to the Heads dorm.

"Yeah." James agreed. They entered their common room and found a note on the table.

_Mr. Potter and Miss Evans,_

_Please report to my office once you see this note. I have something to discuss with you._

_-Dumbledore_

"I guess we should go now." James said.

"Did we do something wrong?"

"Nothing he could have found out about."

"I hope so." They walked to Dumbledore's office in silence, said the password and knocked on his door.

"Enter. Ah, Mr. Potter and Miss Evans. Please, sit down." Dumbledore said kindly.

"Professor, did we do something wrong?"

"I don't know, did you?" There was a twinkle in his eye.

"I, erm,--." Lily stuttered and James kicked her foot, which Dumbledore didn't notice.

"Ah, I'm only joking, Miss Evans. As far as I know, you have done nothing wrong. Anyway, I have something important to discuss with you." Lily and James listened carefully.

"I know you've heard of Lord Voldemort and his followers gaining strength. I am organizing a defense squad. It's called the Order of The Phoenix. It's for people who are strongly against Voldemort and would _never _think of spilling our secrets or betraying us. We are only recruiting trustworthy people. I am positive I can always trust you two. Joining the Order can put yourselves in danger, but it's for a good thing."

"I'm in." James said immediately and looked at Lily. She was deep in thought. Dumbledore waited patiently, while James was impatient. He needed to do this with Lily. He wanted her to know everything. He couldn't do it alone.

"I'll do it." She answered.

"Excellent. You may inform the seventh years that you trust. _No one_ else. I recommend only telling Mr. Black, Lupin and Pettigrew. None other."

"Yes, Professor." They said in unison. "Thank you." Lily added.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**Hey! I know this chapter was short and probably boring. Sorry! I'll try to make the next one longer. Hope you liked it…and any ideas for the next chapter are welcome! Please don't hesitate. Thanks so much for reviews.**

**Much Love,**

**HPF670**

**sorry I had to take away my review responses. Supposedly they're not allowed anymore, but I still appreciate all your reviews. **


	12. Seventh Year Comes to an End

**I really appreciate all the reviews I got for chapter 11! I think it was the most I've gotten for a chapter! I know after getting all those reviews, I owed it to you to update earlier, but I had mountains of homework, getting ready for Christmas, celebrating Christmas, and shopping of course! (oh, back to school also….) haha. It was crazy. So, I wanted to say that I appreciated all the support. It means a lot. **

Chapter 12—7th Year Comes To An End

"PARTY!" Sirius yelled and jumped in the air, his hair flying up. Katie laughed.

"Sirius, calm down, it's not for an hour." She laughed. There was a huge party the Gryffindors were throwing for all the 7th years, celebrating the end of N.E.W.T. exams and one last party before leaving Hogwarts. (a/n—thanks **potterchick1 **for the party idea!)

"I'm getting into the party mood early!" Sirius replied. Katie laughed again.

"Well, I'm going to get ready for it, okay? I'll be sure to wear something sexy for you." She winked jokingly. Sirius smirked but then laughed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily was standing in front of her closet, unable to decide what to wear. At that moment, Katie burst into the door carrying her clothes and make-up.

"Alright, let me look." She walked over to Lily's closest and studied it carefully. "Hmmm…" Lily waited patiently. Katie grabbed two pairs of jeans, tossed them on the bed and turned to face Lily.

"I like those two pairs. Which ones are smaller?" Katie asked.

"Erm, I think the lighter ones." Lily replied.

"Wear the light ones." Katie instructed her and Lily slipped them on. Katie turned back to the closest. "Hmmm…" She said again, tapping her chin. She grabbed two tank tops, the white one with green flowers and a plain green one. "Layer these. Put the white one on top and the green on bottom. The white has a lower neckline, so you'll be able to see the green one, plus they are sporty, show you can relax and still look hot.

Lily put them on and turned towards her mirror. The tank tops showed some cleavage but she didn't care. It was such a simple outfit, but it looked really cute on her.

"James will love it." Katie grinned and Lily laughed.

"What are you wearing?" She asked Katie.

"I told Sirius I would wear something sexy--." Both girls laughed. "So I grabbed this." It was a very short denim skirt, Katie's favorite one to wear, and a very tight blue polo. She slipped them on and showed Lily.

"What do you think?"

"It looks great. Katie, is it for kids?" Lily pointed out and they laughed.

"Well I've had this shirt since I was fourteen! It just got short on me. But hey, I'll take advantage of it. Sirius will too." And once again, the girls laughed.

"What should I do with my hair?"

"Straighten it and we'll take it from there." Once Lily put the spell on her hair, Katie conjured up a thin green ribbon. She tied it around the top of Lily's head, in a small bow on the side.

"Oh, it's adorable!" Lily smiled. (a/n—the clothes and hair I write about was probably not in style then, but it's what people wear and look like where I live...mostly preppy, so I base it on that, because it's what I'm used to.)

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sirius, James and Remus walked into the door of the room of requirement. What they asked for was perfect, so they didn't need to set up or conjure anything. Lily and Katie walked through the door shortly after. Both James and Sirius grinned.

"You look cute." James tilted her chin up and kissed her sweetly.

"Thank you. Now do you and Sirius always have to dress alike?"

"We're not dressed alike. I'm wearing blue and he's wearing black." Lily laughed sweetly. James and Sirius were both dressed in jeans that fit perfectly and their trademark button-down shirts, which, as usual, had the top two unbuttoned and they were un-tucked. Remus wore tan shorts with a simple green t-shirt.

"Where's Peter?" Katie asked.

"He's still in front of the mirror. He's got a crush on someone." Remus said, looking directly at Katie, she laughed until she comprehended what he meant.

"Wait! You mean me?" All three boys laughed. Katie whipped around to face Lily, her loose, blonde, curled hair bouncing with her. Lily was biting her lip and her mouth was twitching, and Katie knew that meant she was trying not to laugh. "Oh go ahead." She told her. Lily exploded and grabbed onto James's shoulder for support. Katie rolled her eyes.

"Great."

"Now, C'mon, you know Peter wants you. So are you sure about staying with Sirius?" James joked. Katie glared at him, but then started chuckling.

"Yes." She answered and wrapped her arms around him.

"And here we go again." Remus said as Sirius kissed her. Some voices made them unlock their lips. A group of Ravenclaws entered.

"Is this the seventh year party?"

"Yeah." Lily smiled. "Come on in." James flicked his wand and some music started playing. Some Hufflepuff girls showed up, and the boys a while later. A house elf had delivered a ton of food that Sirius requested.

"Dance with me." James came up from behind and wrapped his arms around Lily's stomach. She laid her hands over his arms and said good-bye to the girls she was talking to. She saw flickers of envy in their eyes.

"Will you dance with me?" Lily heard Peter ask someone. She turned her eyes away from James to see. He was looking nervous and standing in front of Katie and Sirius, whose arm was draped lazily around her waist. He removed it and gave her back a little shove.

"Go ahead." He grinned. Katie had an odd expression on her face. Lily saw James' face trying to figure out the expression. Lily knew. Katie was biting her tongue and jutting her chin out, which she always did to keep herself from saying something really bad.

Katie wasn't a tall person, she was only 5'4", but Peter was only one pathetic inch taller. James and Remus were both 6'4" and Sirius was 6'5"…being a complete 12 inches taller than Peter.

"Lily." Lily heard James' voice and turned back to face him. "Where are you living after we leave?"

"I think I'll go home for a month or two then Katie and I are looking for a place to share."

"Live with me." This took Lily by complete surprise.

"What?"

"Live with me." He repeated.

"James, I—we—we're—we're only eighteen. Well I'm eighteen. You're nineteen. But still…we're not even twenty!"

"So? My parents were engaged when they were twenty."

'We're not your parents, James."

"Lily! Can't you see that I love you?" His voice was slowly rising and other seventh years were beginning to listen.

"Yes, James, but I can't live with you. I'm eighteen. _Eighteen."_

"Why can't you?"

"We're too young!"

"Who cares how old we are?"

"I do!"

"I want to live with you, Lily, and I want to now!" The whole party went silent. Lily's eyes watered.

"James, I want to also, but not now! We've haven't even been a couple a year yet. I'm sorry." Lily looked at her green converse-clad feet. Music started again, and Lily knew Katie put it back on and blasted it. People slowly turned away and began to party again.

"Do you love me, Lily? In all honestly, do you love me?" James needed a serious answer.

"Yes, I do." James grabbed her shoulders and pulled her towards him, pressing his lips upon her. He deepened the kiss, not caring what people though. He felt Lily's hands in his hair.

"Good." He replied breathless and she smiled and laughed.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily stood on the stone circular driveway in front of her huge home before entering. It felt different. She opened the front door and stepped into the foyer. She felt different. The extra tall ceiling seemed unfamiliar. The shiny marble floor made it feel like a museum. She slowly walked up the stars and down the long, bright hallway to her room. The soft white carpet was freshly cleaned and the tall windows were letting in the beautiful sun. Though her home felt different, she still loved its beauty. Lily stepped onto the balcony outside her window. It overlooked the stone driveway and had a view of the fountains on each side of the straight part leading to the house. A limo pulled up the circular path and Lily recognized Katie getting out.

"Katie!" She called. Katie looked up and grinned. Lily quickly threw over the rope ladder from her balcony. It was a secret between her and Katie. Lily used it to escape her house sometimes, or let Katie come up when she wasn't allowed to have friends over. Even though Katie was allowed then, she climbed up the rope for old time's sake. Once she reached the top she exhaled deeply.

"That seemed so much easier when I was a kid." Lily laughed and opened the French doors to let Katie in her room.

"I think I found a place for us."

"Really? An apartment? Where?"

"About half hour away from London."

"What's it like?"

"Completely wizard."

"No way! That's what we've been looking for! How much?"

"About 453,000 pounds. (Around 800,000 American dollars)."

"Not bad. What's it like inside?"

"It's great, especially for an apartment. It has shiny wood floors in the entryway and in the common room, bright and sunny too with huge windows in the front, the kitchen is large and sunny, and there's 4 bedrooms with soft, white carpeting and 2 large bathrooms. I was thinking of maybe making the extras either offices or storage rooms. What do you think?"

"It sounds great, and we could definitely afford it. Plus, I'm dying to leave this house. Take me to see it tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Do you want to stay the night? We've got the guest bedroom all fixed up, or you could stay in my room in that giant sleeping bag."

"Sounds great, let me just call my mum."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**Sooooo sorry it took so long to update! I couldn't think of ideas, so this chapter really isn't great at all, but it should be better next one. Once again, sorry and thank you for the much appreciated reviews!**

**Love,**

**HPF670**


	13. Four Amazing Words

**Geez way to review guys. But sorry it took forever for this chapter...review and I'll be quicker!**

**Thanks to the few people who did…aka 5 or 6 people. Love you all. **

Chapter 13—Four Amazing Words

Lily waited impatiently, holding a heavy cardboard box, as Katie tried to unlock the door to their new place. The door finally opened and the girls stepped through.

"Katie, you sure this isn't a house?" Lily asked.

"Look who's talking. Your house is a castle. Besides, we are on the third floor to begin with."

"Well your house is a castle too." The girls laughed and looked around. It was a huge, 2-level apartment.

"How did you find a 2-level place?" Lily asked.

"I just looked around at places for sale. C'mon let me show you around." Lily followed Katie through the entry way.

"This is the living room." There were shiny, finished and smooth wood floors and in the back, large, bright windows letting in the sunlight. "Come see the rooms!" Katie was excited. They walked up the curved staircase and down the wood floor hallway. All 4 bedrooms had soft, white carpeting were large, especially for an apartment. There was a big double window in each room too, letting in sunlight. A beautiful bathroom was attached to each too. (**a/n—I know I said 2 in chap. 12, but I changed my mind) **

"Ah, I love it!" Lily smiled and hugged Katie, who laughed.

"C'mon, let's get those boxes!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Ermmmm, over there, is that okay, Lils?" Katie pointed to a spot for the movers to put the sofa.

"Yeah, that's fine; we can always slide it on the floor if we need to change it." Lily's head poked out from the kitchen door to see, while she was putting dishes from boxes to the cabinets.

"Thanks. Can you move that wooden bookcase over there?" Katie said to the movers, and then turned towards the direction of the kitchen. "Which bedroom did you want?"

"I don't care, I think they're all the same."

"Okay, I'll take the first and you can take which ever of the other three." Katie began taking out books from other box and placing them on the bookcase. "What should we do with the extra bedrooms?" Katie asked. She got no answer. "Lils?"

"I've got an idea, Kate."

"Like what?" Katie sat back on her ankles, knees bent.

"Well, what about James and Sirius, Remus too?"

"What about them?"

"Do you think, well, maybe they could have those rooms?"

"I didn't think about that." Katie confessed.

"Don't feel like you have to agree. It's just a thought."

"No, I think it's a great idea. If they want to, I mean."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"What are you doing?"

"Unpacking books."

"Do you want to set up our rooms? The movers already put our beds, bureaus, desks and extra shelves set up in there."

"Okay. I think they brought up a couple boxes and put them in the hallway." Lily stepped out of the kitchen, grabbed a box and marched up the stairs, followed by Katie.

"Lily?" Katie called from her bedroom.

"Yeah?"

"I don't even know where to start."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James shoved the last of his clothes into a box. He was nervous about moving in with Lily and Katie. He hoped it would turn out for the best. His dad and Sirius were carrying boxes down the stairs and James followed suit.

"Got everything you need, boys?" Mr. Potter asked.

"Yeah, thanks Dad."

"Thanks, Harry." Sirius said. He didn't remember the last time he called him Mr. Potter. The walked about side and saw two rented Ministry cars outside, one expanded for all their things, and another for them to ride in.

"Let's go." Sirius grinned and hopped in the car.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily placed a picture frame with a photo of her and Katie when they were twelve on her desk just as she heard the front door open.

"It's us!" She heard James's voice. Katie went down to greet them and help them bring some of their boxes to their room. Lily looked up and saw James wink at her as he passed her open door. She heard him put down the box he was carrying and come across the hall to her room. She smiled and he placed his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him and kissing her sweetly.

"How are you?" He asked.

"Good. Tired. We've been unpacking all day and we're not close to done yet." Lily said, resting her head on his shoulder and her arms around his back.

"Look at the bright side, Sirius and I haven't even started yet."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"We're going to be late! Sirius, get your arse down here, NOW!" James yelled. He, Lily, Remus and Katie were waiting for Sirius. Katie was tapping a beat on the wall and Lily was nervously pacing around the couch. They were all meeting Peter and heading to interviews for Auror training. Sirius came running down the stairs, buttoning his shirt. He kicked a cardboard box out of the way when he reached the bottom.

"Let's go!" He said, tearing open the front door and down the flights of stairs leaving the apartment.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lily wiped her sweaty hands on her jeans and looked over at Katie. She was twirling her blonde hair around her finger. James and Sirius were sitting with their elbows on their knees and their heads resting on their hands. Peter was twitching and Remus was sitting calmly. Finally, the large wooden door opened and an elderly wizard stepped through and cleared his throat.

"Numbers 3, 7, 9, 12, 13, 16, 19, 22, and 27…We'll see you Monday to begin your training. Congratulations. The others may sign up for another interview in six months. Good day."

Lily and Katie jumped up and hugged each other. The Marauders laughed with relief, along with a few others.

"We made it." James grabbed Lily close and hugged her romantically.

"Yeah, we did." She looked up and grinned.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Lils! Where all the plates?" James shouted from the kitchen to Lily who was unpacking her last box.

"Look for them! They're somewhere down there!" She didn't know. Katie unpacked the kitchen and Lily did the living room. Katie was working a shift at a wizard restaurant nearby to earn money. Lily was becoming frustrated because she couldn't find a job. They weren't making any money in Auror training. Sirius and Remus had gone out for a food run, and normally Lily welcomed alone time with James, but she wasn't in a great mood.

"Hey." James appeared in the doorway, holding a plate of sweets. "Want some?" Lily walked over and grabbed a small piece of chocolate. James placed the plate on a white end table next to Lily's couch and sat down.

"C'mere, Lils." He patted the couch. She sat down and sighed, resting her head on his shoulder and he placed his arm around her shoulder.

"Are you okay? You seem so tense." He squeezed her shoulder.

"I'm just…frustrated. Auror training is so hard, I'm not making any money, and it's just so hard right now." She confessed.

"I know, babe." He kissed her cheek lightly.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"Around 2."

"How long will Sirius and Remus be gone?"

"Probably a few more hours. You know Sirius and food." Lily smiled and settled into James. He placed a kiss on her lips and deepened it. He heard her moan lightly. She lay down on the couch and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling his hands rubbing her stomach. James kissed her with loving passion as she began unbuttoning his shirt…

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o (I know I keep doing it a lot but I've got major writer's block)

The phone rang and Sirius was the only one downstairs.

"Lily! How do I answer?" He yelled. She laughed.

"Just pick it up and say hello!" She paused before applying her eye liner to listen to what he would say.

"Um, Hi?" He asked and was silent for a while. "Sure, hold on. LILYYYYY!" He screamed.

"What?"

"It's for you!" She met him at the bottom of the stairs.

"You didn't need to scream so loud." She told him before answering.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

James was putting clothes away as he listened to Lily's conversation. He heard silence followed by a gasp. Walking over to the doorway, he kept listening. Lily's voice was shaking.

"A-Are you sure?" He heard her and peeked out his door to see Lily at the top of the stairs with a tear sliding down her cheek. "No! It's not true! Please, tell me this is a joke! I didn't get to say good-bye!" James walked over to Lily and put his arm around her shoulder and she hung up.

"What is it, baby?"

"M-My parents are dead."

"What?" James cried out.

"The muggles found them in a terrible car accident." Lily sobbed. James grabbed her and pulled her in a tight hug. They stayed like that for a long time, until Lily pulled away.

"I've got to go to the house. To sort though everything, you know? I wonder if we'll have to sell it. I love the house."

"Maybe they left it to you, you know, in their will. Do you want me to go with you?"

"Sure. We better walk. We don't want to be seen apparating around muggles. It's not too far, we make it."

They were mostly silent throughout the walk. James kept it arm around Lily the whole time and she rested her head on his shoulder. They arrived at the house and Lily paused before entering. She opened the door to reveal the usual, sunlight foyer. It seemed so different now.

"Let's just go upstairs." Lily led James up the staircase, her hand gliding softly along the railing. She walked down the long hall until she reached the double doors that led to her parent's room. Once she opened them, she was overcome by a wave of sadness. She cried out and fell to the floor, landing on her knees. James ran over to her and put his arms around her strongly, letting her cry and cry.

A few hours after her crying episode, Lily sat on her parent's bed, surrounded by boxes. James was searching through drawers looking for their will. It was nowhere to be found.

"Did you look in that desk?" James asked, pointing to a desk by one of the large windows.

"No." Lily walked across the soft carpeting to the desk and began to search. After about 10 minutes, she spoke. "I found it." She said softly. James walked over and stood behind her. "What's it say?"

"They said they want me to decide what to do with the house. I don't have to keep it; I can sell it if I want. They also want Petunia and I to take what we want from the house and donate what we don't want. They left us both half their fortune. I think that's pretty much it."

"I guess so."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Oh! Cute! You're getting that!" Katie pointed to an adorable Ralph Lauren blazer.

"Katie, I need something for my date with James. It's a fancy place."

"Puh-lease, Lil, like you don't have extra money for something that would look amazing on you." Katie pointed out. Lily rolled her eyes but smiled as Katie grabbed the blazer and shoved it Lily's arms.

"This is good for your date!" Katie saw a short black skirt and grabbed Lily's size. "Just get a cute blouse to go with it! There! That one!" She pointed to a white one with little embroidered green flowers at the bottom of the left side.

"I do love it." Lily admitted, holding up the skirt and blouse.

"Then get it!" Katie grinned. She loved shopping.

The girls paid for their purchases, Katie carrying 4 bags of clothes.

They got back to the apartment and Lily changed into her clothes for her date. She curled her hair into large, loose ringlets and applied the perfect amount of make up. She heard a knock on her bedroom door and opened it, to see James standing there, carrying a dozen red roses.

"Wow, thanks, James." She kissed his cheek and inhaled deeply. "You smell really good." She giggled. James was wearing black dress slacks and a red button down shirt, with the trademark top-two unbuttoned buttons.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"This food is amazing." Lily said and James grinned at her.

"Glad you like it."

"This was so sweet of you to take me here." James smiled at her and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small black box.

"Lily Evans, I know we're young, but I love you with all my heart. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" He looked directly into her eyes as he revealed a beautiful diamond ring. Lily gasped and smiled.

"Yes. I will." She replied. James grabbed her hand and tenderly slipped the ring on, and kissed it. Then he leaned over the table and kissed her on the lips.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**Hey! I really, really hoped you liked that! I'm so sorry it took like, 2 months! I will try to be better about updating. Reviews mean so much to me so please review! Hope you enjoyed it!**

**-HPF670**


	14. The Married Life

**Thank you SO much for reviews! I'd put personal responses, but we're not allowed to…so all I will say it yes, I am going to write until they get killed and hopefully a sequel after that. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter 14—The Married Life

James took a deep breath before entering their bedroom, where Lily was putting away her clean clothes. After the wedding, they moved into the same room, and Remus got his own room, instead of sharing with Sirius. After James knocked, Lily responded.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, babe."

"Come on in, you don't have to knock."

"I need to tell you something." James said.

"Okay, shoot." Lily replied casually, while folding a shirt.

"Will you sit down with me?"

"Sure." Lily replied uneasily. "You seem nervous, James, what's up?"

"Okay, so we've been married, say, two weeks now, right?"

"Yes." Lily replied slowly.

"So, I want to be completely honest with you." James said. Lily also became nervous and bit her lip. "You know Remus is a werewolf, correct?"

"Yes."

"Well, when Sirius, Peter, and I found out, we wanted to do something to help. We were working at it and finally accomplished it in fifth year."

"What did you do?" Lily asked, as if she didn't want to know the answer.

"I'm an animagus."

"What?" Lily cried out and shot out of her seat.

"Lily, please! Sit! Let me explain!" James instructed. Lily sat with her arms crossed but exploded before James could explain.

"How could you not tell me! We're MARRIED, James Potter, in case you forgot! You don't keep something this important from your WIFE!" She shouted.

"LILY!" James yelled to get her quiet. "Remus is one of my BEST friends! He needed help and we couldn't just wait for him to get past the pain! Humans can't be around a wolf, but animals CAN! It was the only way!" James argued. Lily sighed and put her head in her hands.

"I don't want to yell. I don't want to mess things up." She said in a shaking voice.

"Lily, I'm sorry I've never told you before, but this is a huge deal, and I didn't want you to accidentally let it slip!"

"It's just a shock. I mean, I assumed even _you _would never do something this stupid."

"It's not stupid, Lily. No matter how you felt about me at school, I did it to help a best friend, not to seem amazing to everyone else."

"So what are you?" Lily asked.

"What?"

"What animal are you? Sirius? Peter?" Lily repeated. James let out a huge breath.

"I'm a stag. Sirius is a dog and Peter is a rat." Lily snorted.

"A rat?"

"It was all he could manage." Lily smiled.

"Not mad?" James asked. Lily hesitated.

"I guess not. You really should have told me, James."

"I know."

"I mean, I kept Remus's secret forever."

"I know."

"So I guess this explains the night in the common room."

"I know. Wait, what?" James asked.

"One early morning during seventh year, Katie and I saw you three cut up and bleeding on the couch, exhausted. Then, I realized it was a full moon. I didn't say anything to Katie, though. I just always wondered why you three were there and hurt."

"Oh."

"One more thing, Lils." Lily groaned.

"What?"

"The ministry doesn't know."

"Oh, James! You could get in serious trouble!"

"They won't find out! We were underage when we did it, so we couldn't tell! I promise you they won't find out."

"Okay."

"That's it? Okay?" James was surprised.

"Yes. I don't want to fight. Is that everything you've kept from me?"

"Yes."

"You swear?"

"I swear." James walked over and kissed her softly on the lips. "I feel like I've lost 300 pounds." James laughed and Lily joined him, putting her arms around him.

* * *

**_TWO YEARS LATER!_**

"Hey, we've got to get to the Ministry. Are you okay to come?" Lily walked up behind James. A month ago, Mr. and Mrs. Potter were murdered and robbed by Death Eaters. It completely killed James and Sirius, and they were both still getting over it. There was a soft knock at the door, and they looked to see Katie there.

"Are you coming with us? Sirius said he would. I think they want us all there for some meeting." Katie said.

"Yeah, I'll come." James said, ruffling his hair.

Once they all apparated to the Ministry, they met in the conference room, where Fudge was sitting at a table.

"Please, have a seat." He said to the five of them. (Peter included, too)

"We've noticed that by now you've all turned twenty-one or older, which is the age we usually stop training and begin recruiting new Aurors. We think all five of you would be great additions to us. Would you like to join?"

"Of course!" Everyone except Peter announced immediately and they looked at him.

"O-Of course." He stuttered.

"Well then. Excellent. You understand you must be on call at all times and ready to enter battle, especially now with the growing threat."

"We understand, sir." Katie spoke for all of them.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Lilyyyyyy. Let's go shopping." Katie came up into Lily and James's room. "I'm bored. Sirius, James and Remus are working at the Ministry tonight."

"Alright. Yeah, I guess we could go."

"Good!" Katie grinned and they gathered their stuff and apparated to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Oh, this is cute, definitely perfect for you, Kate." Lily grabbed a cute blue shirt that matched Katie's eyes.

"Love it!" Katie added it to the collection of clothes she was buying.

After they bought their clothes, they stopped for ice cream sundaes at the ice cream shop. It was a beautiful, warm and breezy day, so they sat outside, enjoying their ice cream.

"Katie, I think I'm pregnant."

"What?" Katie said, surprised.

"I don't know, I mean, I threw up yesterday morning, then felt fine later and I felt a little nauseous this morning too. I just have this feeling that I'm pregnant."

"Wow. Did you mention this to James?" Katie asked. Lily shook her head.

"No."

"He's your husband, Lils. You should tell him." Katie advised.

"I just don't know how he'll take it. Plus, I'm not sure if it's true or not. It could just be some weird sickness I'm getting."

"Maybe." Katie said, and they were silent for a little while. "But it would be good, right? If you are having a baby?" Katie finally spoke.

"I don't know. I mean, I've always wanted a child, but we just started a real career and it's just not the best time. I'm only twenty-one, too. Well, James is twenty-two, but anyway, isn't that a little early to have a kid?"

"Well, you should have thought of that before." Katie grinned.

"Oh, shut up." Lily said, but grinned also.

"You really should tell James, though."

"I know. I'm just worried."

"I understand. I can't imagine telling Sirius."

"Yeah."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I think Lily's mad at me for something." James told the other guys.

"Why do you think that?" Remus asked.

"She's just acting weird. Not talking to me as much, and just seems distracted."

"Ask her what's up." Sirius said simply.

"It's not that easy, Padfoot."

"It could be."

"A-Are you sure you didn't say or do something?" Peter asked James.

"I can't think of anything. I've been trying to all week, but I've got nothing."

"I hate to say this, but is she having second thoughts about the marriage?" Remus asked.

"I truly hope not."

"Maybe you got married too early." Sirius suggested.

"Don't say that, Padfoot!" James slammed his fist on his desk, then rested his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

"Sorry, mate."

"H-Have you thought about marrying Katie?" Peter asked Sirius. Sirius exhaled deeply.

"Yeah, I have. I just don't know if it's right."

"Not right? I thought you loved each other?" Remus put in.

"I do love her. She loves me too, but I mean, _me, _a married guy? I can't picture it too well."

"You don't think it will last with her?" James finally spoke. Sirius was silent for a while.

"I want it too. Honestly. I just hope she does. I mean, Katie's kind of like me, when you think about it. She started 'dating', while really just making out, in second year. Most 12 year olds don't, but we both did. The longest 'relationship' I've had besides these 3 years with Katie is about a month with that Maria girl in fourth year."

"Think about it, Sirius. 3 years is a while. I mean, Lily and I got together shortly after you and Katie, and we're married already."

"Yeah. Well, hey, maybe we'll get married. I think I'll just take it as it goes."

"Good idea." Remus told him.

"Sirius, can you ask Katie what's up with Lily for me?"

"Yeah, I'll try, Prongs."

"Thanks, mate."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Katie! Come here!" Katie heard Lily call.

"Where are you?"

"In the bathroom!"

"Why?"

"Just come!"

Katie slowly opened the bathroom door. "What?" She asked, then noticed Lily was holding an at home pregnancy test.

"It's negative!" She grinned and laughed. Katie went over and hugged her.

"So I guess it's good that you're not, if you're this happy."

"Yeah, but I still do want a kid, just not now."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Kates?" Sirius called and knocked lightly on her door. Katie smiled as he came in. Sirius's amazing dark hair was flopped perfectly in his gorgeous eyes.

"Come in." She was propped up on her bed, reading a book. "May I…" Sirius gestured towards the bed.

"Sure." He sat down and looked at her.

"I've got a question from James."

"Okay."

"What's up with Lily? She's been acting weird lately. He's scared she doesn't want to be married anymore."

"Oh! It's nothing like that at all! She's crazy about him." Katie responded.

"Good. So what was wrong with her?"

"Oh, she, erm, just wasn't feeling well, but she's feeling better now."

"Alright, then. Come here, you." Sirius grinned pulled her towards him and kissed her lips deeply.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**Hope you enjoyed that! Sorry it was shorter than usual. Please leave lots and lots of reviews so I can write the next chapter! haha! Love ya!**

**-HPF670**


	15. Not So Negative, I guess

**Thanks for all the reviews…but I would really appreciate more! Sorry this took long, but like my eyes have been hurting so I can't stay on the computer for long periods of time…but thanks for reading!**

**Chapter 15—Not So Negative, I guess**

"I'm so tired." Lily said, as she stifled a yawn.

"Lils, it's like 6:30." Katie responded.

"I know."

"What are we supposed to do until 8 oh clock?" Katie asked, propping her feet up on her desk at the ministry. Lily yawned again and rested her head on her desk which was across from Katie's. Suddenly the door slammed open incredibly loudly, causing Katie to push herself all the way backwards, since her feet her against her desk and Lily's head shot up.

"What's your PROBLEM, Sirius?" Katie snapped, getting up off the floor. The guys had arrived with bags of food for dinner.

"Don't have one." He grinned and offered his hand to help her up. "You had to admit it WAS funny. I mean, you like, flew off your chair."

"Ha-Ha-Ha." Katie responded back. James walked over and placed his hand on Lily's back.

"You okay?" He asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm just really exhausted." James bent down and kissed the top of her head as he dropped a bag of food on his desk next to hers.

* * *

Sirius heard a groan of frustration as he walked past Lily and James's room. He stopped and knocked lightly.

"Yeah?" Lily answered.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure." She responded.

"What's up?" He asked as he stepped inside. He saw Lily standing in front of the full-length mirror, a frown on her face.

"I'm fat." Sirius started laughing.

"No, you're not." He answered truthfully.

"This shirt is way tighter than it used to be." Lily whined.

"Lily, I remember you having that shirt in fifth year."

"So? I've always worn the same size since third year."

"But that was like 7 or 8 years ago. Somewhere around there."

"A few days ago I wore a shirt from when I was fourteen."

"Well, Lily, I hate to tell you, but you're not fat. Look, see how tiny these pants are?" Sirius grabbed a pair of jeans off the bed and held them up. "I could never fit into these." Lily laughed.

"Good. You're not supposed to. They don't fit anyway. They're too tight in the waist. I have got to stop eating chips."

"Whatever, Lils. I'll never understand girls, how they always think they're fat." Sirius said. However, he didn't get a response. He looked over at Lily and saw her pale and wide-eyed. "Lily? Are you alright?"

"Shit." He heard her whisper.

"What happened?" Before he got an answer, Lily took off out of the room. Sirius sat dumbfounded on the bed.

* * *

"Katie?" Lily stepped into Katie's bright, sunny bedroom.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Katie took in Lily's pale face.

"Can pregnancy tests be wrong?" Lily asked nervously.

"Well, yeah, but not usually. Why?"

"I think I'm pregnant. I think the test was wrong."

"Oh, no, Lils, really?" Katie responded, and Lily nodded. "What are you going to do?"

"I guess I'll just take it again. I did buy two in case I needed one another time."

"Go do it." Katie told her, and Lily sighed. "Good luck."

"Want me to call you when I find out?"

"Yes!" Katie answered and Lily left the room. Katie waited impatiently, and finally heard Lily call her name.

"I'm having a baby." Lily told her. Katie gasped and ran over and hugged her. Lily smiled, but it faded.

"You okay?" Katie seemed worried.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Lily! Come on, you're having a baby! You always wanted one!"

"I know, and it's great! But Katie, I'm only twenty-one." Lily answered.

"Lily, you're ready. I know you are. You'll be the perfect mom. Plus, you'll be twenty-two soon, anyway." Katie assured her.

"I suppose, even though twenty-two isn't much older than twenty-one, but thanks, Kate. It is exciting, isn't it?" Lily smiled.

"Yes!" Katie laughed and Lily joined.

"Now all I've got to do is tell James."

"Eek." Katie offered a sympathetic look.

"Yeah." Lily agreed.

* * *

Lily tapped her feet against the wooden floor of the sunroom. _Where is he? _She thought. She was nervously waiting for James to get back from the Ministry. The house was empty; Sirius and Katie went out to eat and Remus was away because it was the full moon. Peter was off doing something stupid. So, it was the perfect time to tell James the news. Finally, she heard the front door open.

"Lil?" James called.

"In here!" Lily responded and James appeared at the doorway.

"Hey." He placed his hands on her cheeks and kissed her sweetly.

"Sit down." Lily patted the couch next to her. "How was your day?" She asked.

"Rather boring. The Death Eaters seem to be riding low for now, so there's not much for Aurors to do. Are you coming in tomorrow?"

"Yeah." They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, looking out the window. "So, erm, I've got something to tell you. I hope you'll like it." Lily announced.

"Okay." James tried to remain calm.

"Erm, well, it's, like this." Lily took a deep breath. "We're having a baby." James's jaw dropped.

"Y-you're serious?" He asked and Lily nodded. "Wow." He was stunned, but he grinned.

"Is it okay?" Lily asked.

"Of course it is, Lily, I love you." He kissed her again. "This is great." He looked at her and Lily giggled.

"I'm glad." She said. James exhaled, leaned back on the couch and let out a short laugh. He pulled Lily towards him and they watched the sun setting slowly.

* * *

"Lily's pregnant." James announced to the other guys at work.

"What?" All three said in unison.

"Yup. We're having a baby." They were all stunned.

"So that explains why Lily thought she was fat." Sirius said, mainly to himself.

"What?" James asked.

"The other day, Lily was frustrated because her clothes were tight."

"Oh. Well, anyway, you think I can do it, right? Be a father?"

"I think you can." Remus said. "You've grown up, now. You'll be a good father."

"Yeah." Peter agreed.

"Plus, little baby will always have Uncle Sirius to turn to." Sirius grinned in James's direction. Remus and Peter laughed.

"I'd rather it fall out a window." James joked and they all laughed appreciatively.

* * *

"What about this one?" James asked.

"Ermmm…maybe." Lily considered. They were relaxed on their bed looking at pictures of houses. Seeing as Lily was pregnant, they though it was best if they moved out of the apartment. James let out a sound of frustration.

"You're so picky!" He told her.

"If we're buying a house, I want one I'll really like."

"Fine. How's this one?" James showed her a picture.

"Oh! I like this one! Where is it?"

"Godric's Hollow."

"I've been through there before. It's pretty. "

"So you're thinking this house?" James asked.

"I love it. I wanted a brick one, and I think this is it. It's gorgeous."

"Okay, we'll look into it."

"Good, because it's perfect." Lily smiled and James joined her in a grin.

* * *

"I'm so sick of this stomach." Lily looked down at her large, protruding belly.

"Hey, you're pregnant, get over it." Katie smirked. They were in Diagon Alley, looking for baby stuff. "How much longer do you have left?"

"A month. Tomorrow's the last day I'm working until after the baby's born."

"It's so exciting."

"I know. I can't wait." Lily and Katie smiled.

"C'mon, let's pay for this and get some ice cream." Katie said, leading Lily to the cash register. She left the store carrying 3 bags of toys, blankets and adorable baby clothes. As they were walking down the cobblestone road, they heard their names.

"Lily? Katie?" A voice behind them spoke loudly. They turned around to see Jason. He glanced at Lily's stomach and bags, then looked back at her face.

"I recognized the hair. So how have you been? Good? It's been like 3 years."

"Yeah, it has. I'm, erm, good, you?" Lily asked politely.

"Fine. So, er, who's the guy?" He gestured towards Lily's stomach.

"Potter. We're married now."

"Really? Well, congratulations." He said and Katie rolled her eyes. Jason was never one of her favorite people. "When is it due?"

"End of July or the beginning of August. Around then.."

"Wonderful. Well, it was great to see you, and again, congratulations." He told her.

"Bye, Jason." Lily said.

"So how's the move going?" Katie asked Lily was they walked to the ice cream shop.

"It's great. We've almost got everything unpacked. I love the house. We're pretty much just setting up the baby's room right now."

"Awesome." They laughed and talked while enjoying their ice cream and looking through the bags of everything cute Lily bought.

* * *

"James?" He heard Lily call.

"Yeah?"

"Come here!" She said. He went out to the sitting room. "I think my water broke." She held her stomach.

"Oh! Okay, errrrr…" He started to get nervous.

"Hospital!" Lily told him.

"Right! Hospital! Are you okay to apparate?"

"Yes! Let's go!" She said. They arrived at St. Mungo's and quickly got Lily a room in the Maternity Ward. James was kicked out as they did some tests and checked on Lily, so he decided to tell everyone what was going on. He apparated to the apartment and both Sirius and Katie let out a startled yell, because he apparated into the room they were in.

"Lily's having the baby!" He announced.

"Whoa, you okay there, Prongs?" Sirius and Katie both got up.

"I've never been so nervous in my life." He laughed.

"Let's go!" Katie said.

"Moony! Wormtail! Hospital! It's baby time!" Sirius shouted before he apparated. The three of them arrived there and were joined shortly after by Remus and Peter.

"Mr. Potter?" A nurse came outside Lily's room.

"Yes?" James looked at her.

"It's time." She smiled.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**Hey! Did you like it? I hope so! Sorry it wasn't as long as usual. I think there's only going to be about 2 more chapters, but hopefully I can work out a sequel. Leave a review if you want the next chapter!**

**Love,**

**HPF670**


	16. The Year With Harry

**Thanks sooooo much for the reviews! I appreciate it so much! I think the next chapter will be last chapter!**

Chapter 16—The Year with Harry

James rubbed his sleepy eyes as he grabbed a bottle from the kitchen. He trudged back to Harry's nursery and lifted his crying son out of his crib. He sat in the rocking chair with Harry in his arms, sucking on the bottle and looking innocently at James. It was two in the morning and James's turn to feed Harry. Once Harry was finished, James rested Harry on his shoulder and patted his back as the little baby fell asleep.

Lily smiled as she stepped into Harry's room to check on her baby. She saw James asleep in the rocking chair and Harry asleep on his shoulder. Harry's eyes fluttered open and Lily walked quietly and gently took Harry off James's shoulder. He kissed the baby's temple as she walked into the kitchen. About an hour later, while Lily was playing on the couch with Harry, James walked in.

"Sleep well?" She grinned at him. James laughed.

"I was tired." James said and walked over to take Harry out of Lily's arms. "Go shower, I'll watch him."

"Thanks." Lily kissed him and walked to the bathroom.

* * *

"Come see Uncle Sirius!" Sirius yelled and grabbed Harry, who giggled.

"Lily! He's soooooo cute!" Katie said, looking at Harry. "His eyes are gorgeous." She added.

"Because they're Lily's." James said, smiling.

"Awwww." Sirius and Katie said in unison.

"Poor kid, he looks just like you, Prongs." Sirius joked. Katie and Lily laughed.

"Thanks, Padfoot. I really appreciate it." James said sarcastically.

"No problem, mate." Sirius put Harry on the floor and let him move around a little bit.

"Okay, we better get going, don't want to be late for the meeting." Lily told them. They were leaving Sirius and Katie in charge of Harry, while they had to run to the Ministry for the night. Once they were outside the door, James looked at Lily.

"Are you _sure _we can trust Sirius with him?"

"I think he knows what the difference between fun and responsibility is. Besides, Katie's there, too."

"Okay." James sounded unconvinced.

"It will be fine." Lily kissed his cheek to reassure him.

* * *

"Sirius?" Katie called.

"What?" He responded.

"Did you feed Harry?"

"Yes. He's asleep right now." Sirius told him. Katie came out into the living room and sighed, exhausted. Harry was completely out on one of his soft blankets Lily brought over.

"Harry is definitely a feisty baby." She laughed.

"I'll say." Sirius agreed.

"I'm going to go shower. Keep an eye out for him, okay?" Katie said and Sirius nodded. After what felt like two minutes, Sirius woke up. He looked at the clock, which read 10:30. Shit. Last time he looked it was 9:00. He heard a blast and jumped off the couch. He followed the sound of the blast and reached for his wand, but it wasn't in his pocket or on the table. He slowly walked into the kitchen, but no one was there. He heard a giggle and spun around to see Harry, sitting on the floor with Sirius's wand, the chair next to him split in half. Sirius snatched the wand away.

"I told you to keep an eye out for him." Sirius yelled out in surprise and turned to see Katie leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed and lips pursed.

"Sorry. I-I fell asleep." Sirius said lamely.

"Sirius, he could have really hurt himself."

"I know." He said.

"You're lucky."

"I know."

"James and Lily will be back soon. Keep your wand away from him!" Katie instructed. Once Katie was gone, Sirius turned to face baby Harry.

"Geez, Potter, you could've killed me then." Sirius told him. "Did you see Katie's face? She was ready to murder." Harry giggled as Sirius picked him up. "I can only imagine if Lily were here. I'd be dead. Hands of the wand, buddy." Sirius told Harry, who looked at him questionably.

"Hey, Padfoot, how'd you do?" James came through the door.

"Er, fine." Sirius blinked. "He's feisty."

"What did you let him do, Padfoot?" James knew Sirius too well.

"I, er, nothing." He said.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Sirius answered.

"Padfoot!"

"H-He got a hold of my wand earlier, but er, it was okay."

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

"I figured you'd kill me."

"Lily would. But it's fine, he's okay. He has a toy wand, you know? In the bag of toys we brought."

"Oh." Sirius said and James laughed.

"Where's Katie? Didn't she watch him too?" James asked.

"Earlier, but she went to bed already."

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, just tired I suppose."

"I better get back with this little guy." James looked at Harry. "Lily went straight home after the meeting. Thanks for watching Harry."

Sirius leaned back on the couch, his hands behind his head. "No problem."

When James reached the door, he looked back at Sirius, who was falling asleep already. He shook his head. "We're so finding a new babysitter."

* * *

"They caught another one." Remus said as he walked into the office they all shared at work.

"A Death Eater?" Katie asked, turning to face him.

"Yeah. Moody tracked him down."

"He's caught a lot of them." Lily stated.

"Who was it?" James asked.

"Regulas."

"My brother?" Sirius spat.

"Yes."

"Good. I knew he was an idiot." Sirius answered.

"Well, yeah, obviously, seeing as how he was dead when Moody found him." Remus told him.

"He's dead?"

"You-Know-Who murdered him."

"Well, again, he was idiot."

"You're not the least bit sad, Sirius?" Katie asked.

"No. I hated him. He hated me. The end." Sirius replied.

"Oh."

"Katie, you're forgetting that I ran away and moved in with the Potters. My family loathed me because I wasn't a muggle-born hating and I wasn't in Slytherin."

"True. I understand."

* * *

"There was another attack." James told Lily when she came out to the living room with Harry.

"What?"

"Yeah, Death Eaters murdered 4 people last night." James folded the Daily Prophet closed.

"This is getting scary, James."

"I know. There's always some attack each week."

"We'll probably be called on soon. To, you know, help fight." Lily said nervously.

"Most likely. We've been working as Aurors for a few years now."

"I'm scared." Lily confessed. "I'm so scared."

"Me too, Lils." James pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead.

"What if something happened to us? What will Harry do?" Lily worried.

"I know Sirius and Katie would take care of him. Sirius is like my brother, Lily, he's got my back. Katie's got yours. They could both handle it. That won't happen anyway. We're going to watch out son start school, make friends, have girlfriends, (though hopefully not as many as Sirius) graduate Hogwarts, start a career, and meet the one for him. We'll watch him live a full, happy life." James assured her. She smiled and watched baby Harry giggle as he played with his toy wand.

* * *

**Hey! I know it's _really_ short…sorry! I have ideas but I need them for the final chapter. So, I'm sorry! The next chapter is the last one! Hope you liked this one though. Leave lots of reviews for the ending! **

**Love,**

**HPF670**


	17. When The World Changed

Thanks for the reviews…..one thing I will say though to **starnerd…read this chapter…I did have everything planned out to fit the book, so don't worry. I've got it covered…but thanks for reviewing too!**

Thanks for all reviews and thanks to **CASOCCERCHIC02**--- you were my 100th review for this story! yay! thanks!

Anyway…on to the final chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 17—When The World Changed

"Happy birthday, Harry!" James and Lily said in unison as they got Harry out of his crib in the morning. Harry giggled.

"I can't believe our baby's one already!" Lily said as they walked to the kitchen to feed Harry.

"It went by fast." James agreed. "But I can't wait till he starts Hogwarts."

"James, that's in like 10 years."

"I know. It'll be so cool though. I bet he'll be JUST like me."

"Great." Lily said sarcastically.

"Hey, if I weren't myself, then you wouldn't get this." James said, grabbed her and gave her a passionate kiss.

"That is rather nice." She smiled and James raised his eyebrows and took Harry from her.

* * *

"You know, these are actually fun." Sirius said, rocking back and forth like a kid on the swing set at the park. Lily and James took Harry there to play, and Sirius insisted on coming, dragging Katie along with him.

"Padfoot, you look like an idiot." James told him.

"Don't even bother telling him." Katie said.

"It's fun!" Sirius said, with his dark hair flying behind him. Katie rolled her eyes, but joined James in smiling. Lily was chasing after Harry, who was giggling.

"He's adorable, James." Katie smiled.

"Thanks, Kate." James paused for a minute. "It's great having a kid. I love it."

"Yeah. I want to have a kid soon."

"Do you think you and Sirius will ever get married?" James asked.

"I want to. I don't know if he does. We've been together so long. Do you think he'll ever ask me?" Katie looked at Sirius then back at James.

"He loves you, Katie. He's crazy about you. I know he is." James told her.

"You don't think he's the type of guy to get married, do you?"

"Erm…" James trailed off.

"Exactly. I love him, though. I want to marry him."

"I know you do." They both looked at Sirius and laughed at his joy from the swing. Harry ran up to James and threw his arms around his leg.

"Pay!" Harry insisted, meaning 'play!'

"Okay, okay." James laughed and plopped Harry in the baby swing, which, coincidentally was next to Sirius'.

* * *

"Hello Lily. James." Dumbledore shook both of their hands. "Please, have a seat." He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk.

"I have something incredibly important to tell you. It cannot go by without action. Please, understand that there is only one solution." Dumbledore told them.

"Okay." Both James and Lily said.

"Lord Voldemort is after both of you, and Harry, too." Lily got the sickest feeling she ever felt before. She looked over at James; he was incredibly pale.

"W-Why?" He asked weakly and quietly.

"There has been a prophecy made to both Voldemort and Harry. Apparently, someone overheard the prophecy and passed it on to Voldemort. He is determined to get to Harry." Dumbledore answered. Lily's eyes started tearing up.

"No, not our son." A tear fell and James pulled her close.

"What can we do?"

"There is a spell. It will keep anyone from finding out the secret of your whereabouts. Only the secret-keeper can tell anyone. You need to pick someone you fully trust. If you've ever had second-thoughts, they are not the one to be chosen." Dumbledore informed them.

"Sirius." James said at once. "Do you agree?" He asked Lily. She nodded.

"Okay. We'll just ask Mr. Black for his approval and perform the spell. I think this can work." Dumbledore said. Neither responded, James just hugged Lily and let her cry on his shoulder.

* * *

"James!" Lily called. James ran out to the living room.

"What?"

"It's horrible!"

"What?" He cried louder.

"Frank and Alice Longbottom!" Lily said.

"What about them?"

"They were tortured into insanity!" Sick waves ran over James.

"You're kidding."

"No. It's right here in the Daily Prophet." Lily told him. "This is horrible. It was the Cruciatus (a/n—spelling?) curse. I feel so awful. They were wonderful people."

"Yeah." James agreed. "This is so scary, Lils, more attacks and deaths each week."

"I know. I hope this spell works for us. I'm terrified, James." Lily admitted.

"Me too. We can do this though, Lily. We'll get through this." James hugged her tight until Harry's cry as he woke from his nap separated them.

"Prongs!" Sirius cry a few hours later startled them.

"What?" James said, going to find him. "What's wrong, Padfoot?" Sirius was pale and nervous.

"I-I can't do this."

"No!" James yelled. "You didn't tell!" He cried. Lily came running out.

"You told?" she cried.

"No!" Sirius yelled and they both stopped.

"Voldemort will know to come to me, James." Sirius said. Both Lily and James realized the seriousness of this conversation. Sirius hardly ever said 'James'.

"Well, what can we do?" James asked.

"Make Peter secret-keeper."

"Are you kidding me?

"Voldemort will never guess we made him secret-keeper. He's an idiot. He will know you made me the secret-keeper. He won't follow after Peter! It's a better idea, Prongs." Sirius began to calm down. James let out a deep breath and looked Lily who nodded.

"Fine." He told Sirius.

* * *

Katie walked over to Harry's crib and picked him up out of it. Lily was rocking in the rocking chair, relaxing.

"So, guess what?" Katie asked Lily.

"What."

"I'm pregnant."

"No way! Did you tell Sirius?"

"No. I'm dreading it."

"Why?" Lily asked.

"Lily, we've been together for around 5 years and he still hasn't proposed to me. Do you think he's ready for a baby?" Katie pointed out.

"He loves you, Katie." Lily assured her.

"I know. I hope he can deal with this. I'm excited. I want this baby. I just hope he does." Katie said.

"It'll work out. I promise."

"Thanks, Lily." Katie smiled and hugged her best friend.

"When will you tell him?"

"Soon. It's only October 29th. The baby is due in June."

"It'll be fine." Lily smiled and watched Katie walk around the room with Harry.

* * *

"We've got to go!" Remus shouted to Sirius and Katie.

"Why?" They both asked.

"I just got an urgent owl. There's Death Eaters at the Potter's!" Remus cried. At the same time they all apparated. They arrived in the basement, their hearts beating roughly and nervously. They heard voices upstairs.

"Go!" They heard James's voice yell and then a muffled spell was heard.

"NO!" They heard Lily scream. It was silent for a short while before Harry's cries broke the silence.

"Stay here! I'll go!" Katie told them. Katie's footsteps were heard up the stairs. Remus and Sirius heard another scream, which sounded like Katie's and took off for the stairs. A Death Eater was in the hallway and Sirius shouted "Stupefy!" Before the Death Eater realized they were there.

"Go that way, Moony! I'll go this way!" Sirius instructed. Sirius had to hide for a while before he could go up the stairs to Lily and James's room. He opened the door slowly and saw James and Lily's bodies and a crying Harry on the floor. "Katie?" He said, feeling sick. He didn't see a sign of her anywhere, however he smelled the sweet scent of her perfume, but it was faded slightly. "KATIE!" He yelled and got no response. He fell down to his knees and cried. James and Lily were gone. Katie was missing. There was absolutely no trace of her, except her perfume.

A loud noise was heard on the stairs and Sirius jumped up, his wand pointed out. The door slammed open and Sirius put his wand down when he saw Hagrid in the doorway, tears falling down his enormous face.

"I'm here for Harry." Hagrid told Sirius.

"No, let me take him, Hagrid. Please, let me look after him." Sirius said, in a shaking voice.

"I've got strict orders from Dumbledore to get him out of here." Hagrid told him and left with Harry. Sirius collapsed onto the bed, but then he saw a rat dart out of the room.

"NO!" Sirius yelled and chased the rat. He hit it with a spell and it slowly turned into Peter, who glanced at Sirius's furious face and ran out into the street. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" Sirius roared. "HOW COULD YOU BETRAY THEM?" Peter, instead of saying something, cut off his finger. "What are you--?" Sirius started, but Peter fired and enormously powerful spell.

Sirius ducked. Peter was back into a rat and ran into the sewer, which unfortunately, no one but Sirius noticed. 12 muggles were lying dead on the street and there was a huge crater in the street. Peter had framed Sirius brilliantly.

* * *

Remus watched from the window. By the time he got there, there was nothing he could do. He had seen James and Lily's bodies. He'd noticed Katie was completely vanished. Harry was taken by Hagrid to Dumbledore. Sirius was being dragged away in a car to Azkaban, for murdering Peter. Remus was shocked by Sirius murdering him, but he knew Sirius would be lost without James and Lily.

Remus stood there silently by the window, looking out. _Completely alone._

* * *

**So that's it. Was it a good enough ending? I really hope so! If it was bad, I'll try to re-write it. Please leave a review if you want a sequel!**

**I want to thank you ALL so much for reading and especially to those who reviewed. I got the most reviews for this story and I appreciate it SO much. **

**I'll let you know when there's a sequel! Love you all! **

**Love,**

**HPF670**


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